Catch Me When I Fall
by rainxface
Summary: just a random fanfic. um.. no jeb, ari, flyboys, or total he got lost. Fax, D'olin, and Niggy. I update as much as i can. used to be called: Maximum Ride: Fang's POV
1. 1 and 2 and 3

**A/N: I am currently thinking of a title. For now I will call this "Maximum Ride, Fang's POV". No, this is not the books in Fang's eyes, but a different story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the flock or erasers, etc. I do own the plot.**

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**Chapter 1**

It was my watch. We were deep in the forest of Lost. It was after eleven, I knew that. I looked around at the flock; Angel's arm around Total and Celeste, Nudge's motor-mouth closed, the Gasman's silent breathing. I glanced at Max. When she was asleep, she was the most beautiful thing in the whole world. Her blonde hair, her pink lips, her smooth skin…

Then something caught my eye. Max's arm appeared to have a scratch. I know that she had tried to get the chip out of her arm weeks ago, but this one was higher up and a bit darker. I reached out to grab her arm, but almost instantly she woke up and jackknifed into a sitting position.

"What are you doing?" she snapped, voice trembling. It looked like she was covering her arm.

"What is on your arm?" I asked, calmly and quietly as possible.

"Nothing," she said, almost immediately.

Just by her response, I could tell that she had done something terrible.

"May I see your arm then?" I asked, holding out my hand.

Slowly, Max extended her arm, revealing over ten marks, one of them covered in dried blood. Though it scared me, I showed no expression. I ran my fingers down her arm, gently like a feather. _Why haven't I seen this before?_ I asked myself. Then it occurred to me, lately Max had been wearing a lot of long sleeve shirts.

"What happened?" I questioned, staying calm, forcing my emotions down my throat.

"I want to be normal. I want an actual family with a mom, a dad, and maybe a sister or brother," she yelled, waking up Iggy. "I hate this life! Why can't I have a normal teenage life?" Max's anger rose, and she took out a knife, pressing it against her wrist, and cut along the vein. Blood spilled out of her arm, and she cried.

While I was racing to grab the Band-Aids and things, Iggy started wondering what was going on.

"Uh, Fang," he said, "what is happening? Why is Max crying?" Getting up, Max opened her wings, and shot up, using her supersonic flying ability.

And just like that, she was gone.

**Chapter 2**

Iggy looked confused, having just waked up from an 'argument.' I was still in shock. Never had this happened before; not even at the School.

And yet, there it happened. An 'experiment' just cracked. Max couldn't handle it anymore. _We had to find her_.

"Iggy, we have to find Max," I said, gathering our gear.

"What do you mean _find_?"

"She flew away, she got mad and scared," I recalled. "She had cut marks going up and down her arm. One of them looked like it was still bleeding."

"So what are you saying?" Iggy asked. "That Max has flown away, with a little bit of blood dripping?"

"Before she left, she cut _along the vein_." I hope I didn't look terrified while saying that, but I'm sure I did. It's just that I care about Max, and the flock, but watching Max fly away with most of her blood coming out? I sure couldn't handle that.

"When do we leave?" Iggy questioned.

"More importantly, what do we tell the others?"

The next morning, everyone woke, except me, who had taken all shifts that night. Nudge was the first to talk, not a surprise.

"Uh, Fang, where's Max?" Nudge asked concern in her voice.

"She's out getting some breakfast," I lied. "She'll be back in a few hours." I know they'll get suspicious, but how was I supposed to tell them the truth? I knew that Angel or the Gasman wouldn't be able to stand not having Max around.

I will admit it; even I can't stand life without Max. I've known her almost my whole life and she would always try to help me when I was 'down.' I was there for her when she was down, and I thought we always would be there for each other, but I don't know now.

"Where's the river?" Total yawned. "I'm thirsty."

"Come on, Total," Angel said, getting up, still holding Celeste. "I'll go with you."

"Don't go too far off," Iggy called to them.

"What's for breakfast?" the Gasman asked, rummaging through his backpack.

"Whatever Max brings back," I lied again.

"If she comes back you mean," Iggy whispered, a bit too loud.

"What do you mean _if _she comes back?" Nudge asked with a worried and confused look.

"Max ran away," Iggy said. "Well, actually, it was more of flew away." That really wasn't what I had in mind of how to tell them, but it worked.

Nudge looked stunned. Never had she ever thought that Max, the leader, would run away. Max would always be there for her when she was down, chase away the nightmares, and keep them all safe. Never had Nudge thought that Max would just disappear.

"Ran away?" Nudge mumbled, eyes wide.

"Don't tell the others," I told her, trying not to look threatening.

"Don't tell the others what?" the Gasman chimed in.

"What we…are getting Max for…Christmas," Iggy lied.

"We can actually get presents?" the Gasman said, looking amazed.

Just then, Iggy shot me a look – a look of surrender. I knew we had to tell them the truth. I knew that in a few hours, we would be searching for Max.

And there was nothing more to it.

"Actually, Gaz, no," I started. "The truth is that Max has run away." He stared at me, mortified. "And I don't know if she will live." And then, tears came raining out of Gazzy's eyes.

"Max is gone," he stopped to think, "and you think she'll die? Why would she die?"

Sighing, I turned to Iggy for an explanation.

"Last night, Fang saw cut marks on Max's arm, and when he tried to get a better look, she freaked. Next, she took a knife and cut along her vein," he explained, trying not to cry.

Just then, Angel and Total came up, smiles and glowing expressions, not knowing what had just taken place.

"Is Max back yet?" Angel asked. "Cuz I'm starving. I think I could eat a pig or two."

"Same here," Total agreed. "I think we all need food."

I sighed again, knowing this time I would have to explain things.

"Angel," I said, trying not to cry. "Max isn't coming back unless we go to her."

"What do you mean?" she inquired. "Are you saying that she ran away? Why would she do that?"

"I don't know." But I did know.

And that's what I almost cried about.

**Chapter 3**

Hair being pulled back, wind against her face, the world rushing below her. Max felt alive, but knew she wouldn't be for a few more hours. Her arm covered in sticky red blood. She knew what she had done was deadly and dangerous, but that was part of her intentions – to be free of this world.

Slowly and painfully, Max started dropping. She wouldn't have minded much if she dropped over a forest or an ocean, but she was above the heart of a major city.

A light in every building, and the sun was just about to get up. Max looked down and saw that she was heading straight for a busy street. Smiling, she tucked in her wings, and drive bombed for the pavement.

She could hear cars honking, dogs barking, and a murmur of people's voices. She felt the wind against her face, eyes closed.

She waited to no longer feel, but instead, felt arms.


	2. 4 and 5

**Chapter 4**

We set off looking for Max in the late morning, due to slow packers. I knew the flock was all glancing at me every couple minutes, waiting for me to break down. But I'm not like that. I can hide my emotions and still be strong. I can take orders, but I can also give the orders if I have to. I can be a leader.

"I hope Max is okay," Angel said once we took flight.

Everyone was thinking the same thing, I'm sure. We almost always relied on Max for our problems, and I don't think that I would be able to handle all those problems. Maybe that's why she ran away – she couldn't take anymore stress on her life. But that didn't seem to fit.

Last night kept flashing in my mind. The cuts, screams, the blood. All of it just made me shudder. Thinking about it made me worry more.

"So where do you think she is?" Ig asked, coming up to me, wings almost touching.

"I honestly don't know," I answered truthfully. "She could be anywhere." I sighed, head down, wanting to just free-lance it. "I just hope she isn't dead."

"Yeah, me, too," Iggy agreed.

Looking down, I said, "Feels weird flying over a town in midday."

"In a way," he responded. "But it doesn't quite bother me that much."

Looking back at the little kids, they all looked really worried.

"How are they going to manage?" I asked quietly. "Without Max here, what are they going to do? Who are they going to turn to for their every need and problem?"

"I think they might turn to you," Iggy thought. "I mean, you are the oldest out of the five of us."

"Yeah," I started, "but I don't think I could handle all those problems as well as Max." Thinking about where Max was made me want to cry. A lot. But the thing is, I guess, is that the oldest kids can't cry. They have to make all the others believe that you are strong, which I am, but handling all those issues would give me massive issues.

Suddenly, out of the blue, a pigeon flew right into my face, knocking me down a few feet.

That pigeon made me realize something. The reason why I can't take all those problems is because my mind isn't in for the reliance. I need to keep this flock in order, but not I fall out of order while doing so.

I looked back again, seeing the flock all laughing at me.

Below me was a town. That town had something just happen, because there was a big crowd around one street. There was also a paramedic and police cars.

It occurred to me while looking at this 'crime scene,' that the distance of our camp ground and this city, was probably as far as Max might be able to fly.

With no warning, I almost dive bombed for the city, making the others confused.

"Should we follow him?" Angel asked.

"Why did he go down there?" Nudge wondered. "What's in that town that everybody is crowding around one street?"

That made Iggy think, and he realized that this was probably as far as Max could go.

"I think he's looking for Max," Iggy said.

"Why would Max stop here?" Angel asked, face looking confused.

"Because," Nudge started, and tears started rolling down her face. "Because, before she left, she slit her wrist, going with the vein."

"So?" Angel responded.

"If you cut your vein, all the blood will spill out and then you might," Iggy paused, looked down at the town for me, and then continued. "Die."

I landed about a block away from the crowd, my head filled with questions most likely left unanswered. I make my way to the front of the crowd, and I see blood. Blood almost everywhere. I saw a flash of blonde hair, and relief flood through my veins (no pun intended). The problem is I don't know which direction the blonde hair was going. All that I do know is that it was moving away from the crowd.

I walked to where I thought I saw Max's hair, and pause. I see blood drippings on the ground; smeared, but there. I followed the 'trail' until it was gone.

I looked up in the sky, nothing but Iggy and them and birds. No Max.

I run down the street to my right, and nothing there. Not even cars on that street. I don't know if it makes you uncomfortable, but seeing no cars coming down the street I'm walking makes me feel weird.

Looking both ways, I double back. That ally seemed like nothing was to go right. The other direction had cars, people walking back to their normal business. I went the other way on the street, but no, I couldn't.

Suddenly, two Erasers came out, and started tackling me. Throwing a left side-kick, I was knocked to the ground, wind rushing out of my body. A fist covered my mouth, and I bit it, making the Eraser yelp in pain. I guess I do have fangs. Blood came spilling out of his arm and that put me in sorrow of missing Max.

The other non-distracted Eraser didn't seem too amused. The next thing I knew was that something really heavy hit my head.

**Chapter 5**

"Where is Fang?" Nudge asked, looking at the town below her. "What if something bad happened to him? What if there are Erasers down there?" She looked at Iggy, wondering what to do. "Should we go check down there?"

"No," Iggy answered, concentrating on the sounds below. "He'll manage."

"But what if something bad happens to him?" Angel asked, petting Total on the head. "What if there are Erasers down there? What if he doesn't find Max?"

Still concentrating, Iggy sighed, slowing moving toward the town below.

I woke up to some unimaginable terrible noise. It was real. And so were the two monsters that made it.

"Where's the girlfriend?" spat one of the monsters. "Is she dead yet?"

"I don't know," I managed, looking at where I was, but all I saw was white. I felt a bouncy floor, but no straight jacket. I laughed.

"What's so funny," the other asked sarcastically. "Happy that your girl's dead?"

All the sudden, I was facing my worst fear. Max was dead, and no one could do anything about it. My life seemed to be over.

In rage, I ran over to the wall and punched it. That was worthless considering the walls were squishy. Tears came streaming down my face, making my world even more blurry.

My day came flashing at me: watching Max fly away with the blood trail; lying to the flock; the 'crime scene'; the Erasers.

And now this 'rehab' room.

My life _can't_ get any better than this.

Then a door opened up. I don't know where the door came from seeing as how all the walls were the same. Jeb walked through, holding a mirror.

_What the?_ I thought to myself. Why the hell would Jeb need to be carrying a mirror?

"I'm sorry we had to do this to you, Fang," Jeb said, turning the mirror towards my face.

I nearly jumped. I stared at the reflection, and I didn't want it to be true, but it was.

"Iggy?" Nudge asked quietly. "How do you know where Fang is? He could've walked away from this town with out us knowing. He could be under us in the sewers." Nudge waited for a response, but didn't get one. She waited patiently and quietly for a word from Iggy, but heard nothing.

"I don't hear his footsteps," Iggy said after a long wait of silence. "Do you guys see him anywhere?"

"No, not that I can tell," the Gasman said.

"What's that?" Total asked pointing his snout at the blood stains.

"I don't know," Angel said.

"Looks like blood," Nudge stated, staring at the spot.

"Is there another spot?" Iggy asked, being annoyed of not seeing.

"Yeah," the Gasman said, pointing at a spot not too far from the other. "Right over there!"

"Oh, yeah," Iggy said, "over there. I know where that is."

"Sorry," the Gasman replied. "What's up with you today?"

"Do you want to know?" Iggy yelled. "I have been blind for almost my whole life. I can't see where I am going. I don't remember what colors look like that much. I just became leader of three kids! I am in a nightmare that won't end! My life is falling apart. I don't have Max; we don't have Max to help. Fang left, looking for Max, and my eyes are three kids, not even knowing what the hell is going on." Turning to his left, Iggy thought he was punching air, but hit a light pole. "Crap!"

"Iggy," Nudge started, but then paused, trying not to cry. "We're trying our best. We know we can't be as good as Max or Fang, but we are trying." At this point, Nudge was wiping a tear off her face. "We are trying not to let us all fall apart. We are trying to stay as one. We are trying." Then, tough Nudge, burst out into tears.

"Its okay, Nudge," Angel said, hugging Nudge. "Its okay, we'll stick together, and I won't let anything happen to anyone. And neither will Gazzy." Looking at Iggy, then Nudge, Angel said, "No one will."


	3. 6 and 7

**Chapter 6**

Max opened her eyes a slit, and saw nothing but blackness. She couldn't feel anything, but she still tried to stretch out her arms. Nothing. She saw nothing, felt nothing, heard nothing. Max hoped she wasn't where she thought she was. She tried to remember her last memories, but couldn't. She thought that maybe she had been brain-washed or something, but knew it was impossible.

Squeaking wheels of what might have been a trolley cart came by, but soon left. Max tried to scream, but not a sound came out. Her throat felt dry, and tried to gather some spit, but there was no moister in her mouth. She listened attentively, trying to hear any possible noise, but none came.

Finally, she heard a noise – a strange, unrecognizable noise. It sounded a bit like a roar, and yet, didn't. She tried to move, but she lay still as a rock, not moving even an inch. She tried to scream, but no such thing came. She lay there, as still as could be, in terror.

The monster roared again, making her ears nearly split. She could only close her eyes to try and escape the pain. Max tried to imagine something – anything – to get away from the horrific noise, but she couldn't imagine, she could barely even think.

"Who are you," boomed the roaring voice.

Trying her hardest, Max moved her mouth, not knowing who she was, or what she could have said. Max hoped that the monster didn't know such a thing about reading lips or minds, because he might've been very angry.

"Who _are_ you!" yelled the voice.

"I don't know!" screamed Max. A rush of relief ran through her body. She knew that she could talk and listen, but nothing else. She tried and tried to move her arms, wings, anything, but nothing moved.

"Why are you here?" came a second voice.

"I don't know," Max said, stubbornly. Still she tried to remember her past, even an hour ago, but nothing came. She couldn't think of anything but 'I don't know.'

"Do you know where you are?" the first voice asked calmly.

"Know," Max asked herself quietly. "I don't know."

"What are you?" the second voice boomed.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you see I'm suffering here! I need help! I can't see, I can't think, I can only say 'I don't know' and I can't move!" Max screamed. Gasping for air, Max cried. A smile crept across her face, unknowingly, and tears fell into her mouth.

"Uh, miss," said the first voice quietly.

"What?" she snapped.

"Have you not noticed," the second one asked. "Did you not notice your horrible yelling habit?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, confused. "I have always been able to talk. I know so many words. If I could see you, I bet ya I could beat up your ass with words only."

"Well," the second one started. "Well, then maybe for a precious prize, you'll tell us your name." 

"What's the prize?" Max inquired.

"It starts with F," the first one said slowly.

"Fang!" Max yelled almost immediately.

"Yes, your boyfriend," the second one teased. "Now, what is your name, and no lying."

"Maximum Ride," Max said, quietly, almost unsure of herself. "Maximum Ride is my name."

"Good," sounded a third voice. "He'll come in a few minutes." The voice left out a little chuckle before saying, "And don't be surprised."

I yelled; I wanted to tear something, or better yet someone – Jeb – to pieces. I tried grabbing the mirror, but Jeb quickly moved out of the way. I ran, ran to where I thought the door might be, but ended up with softness in my face.

"Boss," said a new voice. "Calm him down or something."

"Fang," Jeb said, trying to look me in the eye. "Max isn't dead. She doesn't know what's going on."

Hearing those simple words made me so calm and happy. Only one thing – one person – can make me feel so happy, and that's Max. Knowing she wasn't dead was like finding your biological parents; so happy, and wanting to exchange so many stories.

"If you are nice enough, we'll take you to see her," Jeb said, looking relieved he wasn't thrown around.

"You'll let me see Max," I said quietly. Then I stopped. "You _took_ her?" Rage rushed in and out of me so quickly. "You take her away from me, and made me suffer? Was this another 'test'? Seeing how long I could last without Max?" I grabbed the mirror out of Jeb's hands, smashing the reflection into a million pieces. "Well, did you figure it out? I can't last more than one day without her. Max is my everything." Tears were streaming down my face when I finished my sentence.

Shaking really hard, I sat down in a corner, crying quietly. My face buried deep in my hands, I felt my skin. My normal human skin.

"Will you take me?" I asked, my head coming out of my hands.

**Chapter 7**

A blindfold was put over my eyes, probably to prevent me from figuring out how to escape or see where in the freaking world I was. Having my eyes out of use was pretty intense; I can't use my ears to see.

I was led probably north-northwest, without any turns. Occasionally I would trip on a crack or something, and then getting my gut punched out for seeming to escape. Finally we came to a stop, which I guessed was where the entrance to another psycho room, or Max's room.

I was thrown into that room, blindfold off, and couldn't believe my eyes. I was so happy to see Max still alive, with a cast on. I thought for sure she was dead, but seeing her with a blindfold on rescued my world from a terrible fire.

"Max," I yelled to her. "Max! Can you hear me?"

"Fang?" she asked questionably. "Fang, is that you? Oh, my gosh, I thought I was going to die!"

"Let me take off your blindfold," Fang muttered.

"That's why I can't see!" Max realized.

I untied her blindfold as quick as I could, and paused to look at her beautiful eyes. Seeing those eyes, it just made me . . . Happy.

"What?" she asked, realizing I was staring into her eyes. "Do I have something in my eyes?"

"Only beauty," I said. I took a deep breath, looking at Max and I kissed her. "I love you, Max."

"Fang," she said a smile on her face. "I love you, too."

"Now," I whispered an evil grin across my face. "Assuming I know you correctly, you would like to get away?"

"You know me too well," she whispered back her smile still there, and she went on her toes and kissed my cheek. I looked into her eyes again, not wanting to loose her.

"I think the door out of here is somewhere over there," I whispered, pointing to where I thought I came in at. "It opens from the outside, so somehow we'll make them open it, probably by making me come out. Then, when it opens, you make a run for it, and I'll distract them."

"Okay," Max agreed. "But where do I run? Where to?"

"Run to where you think is the safest, and wait there for me," I told her. "If I don't show up in half-an hour, then something's wrong, but continue flying."

"But," she started eyes looking worried.

"It's ok!" I told her. "I'll be fine. You understand everything, correct?"

"Correct," she mumbled. "Just be safe."

"Don't worry," I assured her. "Just remember – I love you until the day the world dies."

"I love you, too," she said.

And I walked away knowing she knew what to do.


	4. 8, short chappie

**A/N: this is only one chappie cuz the next is realllllllly long. So enjoy this one chappie!**

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**Chapter 8**

"I'm ready," I yelled, and the door swung open. Three Erasers were waiting for me outside the door, and I knew I could take them. They tried putting the blindfold back on, but I quickly round-house kicked the one Eraser, then really fast driving two punches into another's gut. I was pulled back by the third, but I kicked back, and he went down crying. I moved into a better fighting stance, and back-kicked the first Eraser.

I felt Max running behind me, and I knew she would be safe, wherever she was going. I watched her fly off – bad idea – and I was quickly hit in the head. But that didn't stop me. I threw a punch so hard to the Eraser's ribs that a few actually cracked. The Eraser fell down, and I quickly ran off, teasing the Erasers. I realized that these Erasers didn't have any wings, so I ran to a turn and stopped before the turn. I waited there until the other two Erasers followed, and at last minute jumped up, beating my wings hard, and they crashed into the wall.

I flew over to a different part of the place, and landed, rushing towards a door that read "EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY." Isn't this an emergency? I pushed the door out, and no alarm sounded.

I ran out, realizing how dark it was. I could only guess where Max had gone. I ran a bit more, and then stared to fly. I looked down, to see if I could find Max, but couldn't.

I flew a bit more, deep into a forest. I was just barely able to see through some leaves of a tree, and saw Max, lying on the ground, looking asleep. I dived down, about twenty feet away from her. I slowly walked up to her, and laid down and fell asleep next to her.

* * *

"Iggy, do you even know where we're going?" Nudge asked him. They had been flying in one direction, and only that one direction, for almost five hours. Nudge was starting to get worried after passing a mountain range. 

"We're flying north," Iggy replied. "Supposedly Fang's family are up there. We're just going to check it out."

"But what about Fang?" Nudge asked hesitantly. "He won't know where we are."

"Yes," Iggy said. "But I'm sure he read the papers on where his family is."

"But –"

"It's okay. He'll be okay."

And they continued north, without another complaint.

* * *

I woke next to Max – just the way I fell asleep. As I've probably said before, Max was the most beautiful person in the world – especially with the smile she sleeps with. 

I guess it was around eight in the morning, because the sun was already up and the birds were chirping.

"Good morning, Max," I whispered in her ear. "The sun's up, animals are awake; the Earth's still here."

"Good morning," she said while rolling over to her back. "It's too bright; turn the light off."

"I don't think I can turn off the sun," I joked.

"Fine," she said, smile abroad. "Then I won't get up."

"Then I'll just let all the snakes come and eat you," I teased her.

"There are snakes out here?" she asked, scared.

"No," I said. "But there might be."

Max's expression changed from scared to mad in just seconds. She hit me, but not hard.

"Jerk!" she yelled. "I hate you!"

"But you love me, don't you," I said with a smile.

"Yes," she agreed. She leaned over and her gentle lips met mine. I hung onto her, eyes closed. I knew she felt it, as did I. That little spark – the true love spark. I know you usually find your true love when you're older, but when you can't meet anyone due to differences, you start finding love within the people you do know.

Like Max – I've known her my whole life, and I've always loved her – but only as a sister. Now that I realize it, I have always loved her more than that. Every dream I have had, it included her.

I wrapped my arms around her, and hers came around my neck. I tilted my head for a better position.

Max pulled away and said, "I so totally love you."

"I love you, too," I said with a giant smile so unlike me.

I wasn't lying – I did love Max. She was beautiful, sweet, and sarcastic and I would take an Eraser for her. I would protect her with my life. She was my world – my everything.


	5. 9, long chappie

**A/N: haha! A really long long long chappie!!!! Haha! Please enjoy!**

**Chapter 9**

I heard a rustle in the bushes and went tense.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Max just to be sure I wasn't going crazy. "The bushes just moved."

"Yeah," Max replied. "I heard it, too, and it didn't sound like a small animal." Then, everything went still and quiet. There weren't any leaves rustling or anything.

Then, out jumped an Eraser and a weird new thing.

"Surprise!" yelled the monster. The voice was the same one that told me Max died. It was like an Eraser – human like, but also animal. But its fur had a different design – almost cheetah looking.

Rage rushed through my veins. I wanted to rip him, or it, to shreds. That thing lied to me.

Quickly, I ran to the monster and punched him right in the nose, almost causing him to fall down, but he got right back to his place, not noticing the blood that trickled out his nose. I round-housed him ten times in a row, and he only stepped back once. His arm swung at my face, I dodged, but only just.

"What are you?" I asked between dodges.

"He's an Exer," the Eraser said before being punched in the stomach by Max.

"Half human, half cheetah," said the Exer. "I'm quick and furious." He swung again, missed, and I hit him right on top of his head. He fell down, unconscious.

"Quick, huh?" I laughed, and I ran over to the Eraser that was almost immediately knocked out by Max's cast.

"Ow," she said with no expression.

"How's it doing?" I asked, referring to her arm. If she went quiet and didn't talk to me, it wasn't unexpected.

"Fine," she replied, surprising me. "I just want this dang thing off." She started scratching at the cast.

"Why?" I asked, looking into her beautiful eyes. Behind the beauty, I saw fear.

"Why do you want to know?" she remarked.

"Because I care about you," I replied.

"I guess I," Max started. "I guess physical pain was better then mental. It was easier to control." In a way, I could understand. Having to look over five kids could be stressful, and forgetting and replacing that pain with physical pain – pain you could control – seemed like the only solution.

I nodded my head. "I understand what you're saying," I said truthfully. "When did it start?" Then I started looking for rocks to break open the cast.

"A few months ago," she whispered looking away. "Don't be mad, please."

I stopped and looked at her. "I'm not," I said as I was looking straight into her eyes. "I just think you could have come to me with a problem like that. Sure I might've laughed at you occasionally, but for the most part, I would have understood."

"Great to know that now," she laughed. "But, better late than never."

"Yeah," I said continuing my rock search.

After much scratching at her cast, Max stopped.

"So where are we going to go?" she inquired. "Where are the others?" She paused, realizing this was me, and not someone nice. "Let me guess – you ditched the others to look for me. Didn't you."

"Maybe," I laughed. "I didn't _ditch_ them, per say. It was more of 'I didn't tell them where I was going.'"

"Fang!" she yelled. "Why didn't you tell them?"

"Cause I knew only I could have found you."

"Aw. But still – why didn't you tell them?" she screamed.

"Because Iggy would tell me to take the others with me, or Nudge would have asked to go, or they would have just followed me," I explained.

"So how _did _you get rid of them?"

"I made it look like I was committing suicide," I whispered.

"Oh, so they think both of us are dead?" she laughed. "That's cool but lame at the same time!" She stared into my eyes, and I stared back, wanting to know what was going on in her head. "How do you do that?" she asked, referring to my stare.

"Practice," I responded.

"With what?"

"There's a reason to why you stuffed animals sometimes moved around in your room."

"Every time your stare didn't work good enough, you moved to the next one."

"More of threw it across the room."

"Even better."

"But, yeah. I did that."

"Jerk!" she exclaimed. "You hurt Mr. Bear! His left ear fell off and I couldn't figure out why!"

"Sorry," I apologized. "I didn't know that would happen."

"It's okay," she said. "He's probably in shred right now, any ways."

"Okay," I said trying to keep my eyes from widening. "On a happier subject, I think I found a strong enough rock to take off that." I pointed to her cast with the rock I found. "But I'll only take it off under one condition." My face went serious and I hoped I wasn't scaring her. "You promise not to do that again."

"Deal," she said, interrupting me.

"Let me finish," I told her. "And if you do, I'm out of here, or I'm taking you to a nice white room with cushiony walls and floor."

"Deal," she said again. "I, Maximum Ride, promise to you, Fang Doesn't-have-a-last-name, to stop and in return, he shall take off my cast."

That made me crack up.

"What?" she yelled, laughing. "I was just trying to make it almost official!"

"Okay," I said, trying to stop laughing. The rock I found was big, and looked sharp enough to break through whatever type of glue they used on casts. I held it above my head, and dropped it straight in the middle.

No noise, no sound, no crack. Not even a dent in the cast.

"Um, ow," Max said, eyes wide open.

"Did that actually hurt," I laughed.

"No!" she cried. "But if it was open, like it's supposed to be, then it would've."

"Sorry," I said between my laughs. "I'll try again."

Again, I held the rock above my head and brought it down really fast and hard.

A crack sounded, and there was a small dent, with a crack running through it.

"Ow!" Max yelled.

"It went through, that's for sure," I stated. "Can you get your arm out, or do you need help? Because if you need help, I'll just yank your arm out."

"I think I can mangle it out," she said with laughter and amusement in her eyes. She wrangled her arm around, and then tried pulling on it with the other arm – but her arm wasn't coming out.

"Another hit?" I asked the rock still in hand. "I won't hit the same spot or as hard."

"Fine," she replied, putting her arm on the ground.

I, again, raised the rock far above my head, and shot it down to the right of the crack. Another crack sounded, letting Max free her scarred arm.

"No offense, but that is gross," I told her,

"Now that I realize it, that was not only painful but, wow, that was disgusting to actually watch everything come out," she explained.

"Okay, I don't need full detail!" I shouted.

"Sorry, I just wanted to tell the truth," she told me.

"Well, I respect your honesty," I said, smiling big.

"Well, thanks fore getting off that dang thing," she thanked me. "I knew it would've made my flying really awkward, and I know you would've liked to laugh at me for it, too."

We laughed together hard enough to bring a few tears to her eyes.

I was glad she was still alive. Watching Max fly away, it made me nearly cry. Actually, it did make me cry.

Tears ran down my face, probably the first time Max had ever seen me cry.

"What's wrong, Fang?" she asked, realizing my tears. "Is it what I did?"

"No, I'm just so happy that you're alive," I told her, letting my feelings out. "I don't know what I would do without you. I just love you so much."

"Oh, Fang," she said assuring. "It's okay. I'm still here. I realize my mistake, but its okay now. I love you, too, and I promise to never leave your side."

She reached over, her arms around my neck, and I reached around her waist, trying to stop my tears. Her soft hair, caught in my tears, made me think everything was alright.

But I knew things weren't. I knew we still had to find Iggy and them. I knew my parent's, and Max's, were still out there somewhere. I knew we still had to protect ourselves from the insane dangers everyday, and probably for the rest of our lives.

And I knew that I would love Max until the end of time.

Not everything in my life was bad, let alone unexpected. It was like everything was fake except for Max and me.

My life – our lives – made us mad and thankful for still being alive.


	6. 10 and 11

**A/N: first chappie is a bit long. But there are two chappies! Yay!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the flock, erasers, or anything owned by Jimmy Pats.**

**Claimer: I DO own Exers. Yay!**

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**Chapter 10**

Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, Angel and Total were high above a small town, somewhere in Idaho. The bright yellow moon was a stick out with all the stars in the night sky, showing where all the buildings were.

Nudge still wasn't too big on the idea of going without Fang, but decided he would catch up with them, Max by his side. She tried to not cry about Max, but couldn't help it. She fell back in line, behind everyone.

Angel realized Nudge wasn't in front of her anymore, and looked around. She spotted Nudge behind the Gasman. Angel slowed down to meet up with Nudge, and a swiftly soft wind pushed her hair a little, making her smile.

"Is everything okay, Nudge?" Angel asked once she reached her. "Why are you crying?"

"I just miss Max and Fang a lot," she stammered between breathes. "And I'm scare 'cause not I only have one older person to look after me and you guys instead of three."

"Its okay, Nudge," Angel assured her. "Everything will work out fine in the end. All you need is hope and faith."

"Thanks, Angel," Nudge said, wiping her eyes with her jacket sleeve.

"Hey what's going on?" Iggy asked, approaching them with the Gasman. "You okay, Nudge?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I'm fine. Come on; let's see if we can find Fang's parents."

Max and I started flying north, hoping to reach Idaho, to my parents. The sky was clear, except for a cloud way off west, and there was a nice breeze blowing east. I flew beside Max, glancing at her every once in a while. I was keeping a close eye on her, making sure she didn't all of the sudden fall out of the sky or behind me.

So far, so good.

It felt good to fly for a long distance again. Sure my wings got sore after a while, but it's better than holding them in tight.

"You keeping up okay?" I asked Max after flying for at least ten minutes.

"Yeah," she replied, "it feels good to fly again." She flew closer to me, and grabbed my hand.

I wasn't embarrassed to be holding Max's hand – it made me fell like she was safer. I didn't want to loose her again like I thought I had. I wanted her to always be with me.

Her hand was warm, and felt warming. Her hands were as smooth as silk, and compared to my rough hands, that was an understatement.

"Hold on," I told her, and she stopped next to me, her hand still in mine. "I want to try something."

"Okay," she agreed. "What do you want to try?"

I moved closer to her, wanting to try it without telling her. Our wings touched, but it didn't mess up our flying.

"Kissing in mid-air," I whispered to her.

"Okay," she said, willing to take the risk of falling out of the sky at over 20,000 feet.

I leaned my head down to hers, and she brought her head up, and our lips met. That same feeling of a spark was still there. We were both still flying, but not loosing altitude. It was scary and exciting at the same time to know that at any moment, you could fall down, but you feel excited at the same time.

We were still holding hands, and my other hand came up to her cheek. She put her hand on my wrist, and I was filled with joy, an unusual feeling for me.

"Well, did we fall any?" Max asked, breaking apart from me after about two minutes. "I don't think we did."

"I don't think we did, either," I agreed.

We flew on, heading north-west. Still late afternoon, we hoped to reach at least Utah by the end of the day. We flew steadily, but not straight. Every once in a while, we would suddenly turn and stay in that direction.

It was almost as if Max didn't want to find my parents, or at least the flock. I didn't try to turn our direction back in path; I didn't want to upset Max from her joy flight.

"Max," I started after an hour and a half of misled flight. "Do you know where we are supposed to be going?" I sure did hope as hell that that didn't make her mad.

"Yes," she said slightly turning to the right. "And we'll get there on time. Trust me." But that seemed to have fooled me. I know she can fly really fast, but I couldn't. And if she thinks she could fly and drag me behind, she really needed to re-think her plan.

"I know you can," I told her, "but I can't. And I don't think you should, or could, try to drag me behind while super-flying. I don't want you to risk hurting yourself."

"And kicking Eraser, and now Exer, butt isn't dangerous?" she proved to me. "I don't think you realize my power." I knew she was teasing me, so I played along.

"Yeah," I agreed. "I guess I don't even know the power of the girl that I love and adore to death. I guess I truly don't love her."

"Yes you do, jerk!" she called me. "You love me, just as I love you. You just can't stop discovering new facts about me, is all. I know you listen, and you take it all in, but how much do I tell you? That's the real question."

"Yes," I said to her. "I do know and listen and take in to what all you say, no matter how much." And I smiled at her, and she started laughing. Hopefully at our conversation and not at me.

**Chapter 11**

We started landing a few minutes later, somewhere near Utah. Hopefully we actually _were_ in Utah. The air was thin, not thick like it should've been. I looked around. Practically nothing.

"Why are you hard on the outside, but really sweet and cuddly on the inside?" Max asked out of the blue. "I mean, why do you hide the part of you that a lot of people could know and love?"

"That's why," I responded. "Because only one person should see my inside identity. I don't want everyone to know me. I wouldn't feel safe. Or strong." I paused to look into her eyes. "Why do you show the outside and inside you?"

"I don't know," she said, sort of confused. "It just keeps my head in order sometimes. Like, if I had only one personality showing, I would've kept secrets from everyone – even myself."

I looked at her, surprised. She would never seem like she would hold secrets from anyone, much less herself. It made me think, though. How would the flock react if they saw both sides of me? I know that it would confuse me a lot.

But how could I let myself be shown? It's not like I could walk around in a whole bunch of colors. No. Would I just let everyone see me in different ways? That seemed reasonable idea.

"Uh, Fang?" Max asked, breaking me from my daze. "You okay?"

"Oh, yeah," I said, still trying to figure myself out. "Sorry, I'm just really tired."

"Sure," she said quickly, looking like she wanted to fly really fast. "Now, come on! Let's go to Salt Lake City."

"Okay," I said, hoping she would be less hyper while flying. "You like flying fast, huh?"

"Yep," she replied, still seeming hyper. "It just makes me feel so…you know…so high and mighty."

"How?" I questioned, wanting to stall the flight until she settled down a bit. "Why does it make you feel 'high and mighty'?"

"Imagine: You're basically the fastest flying animal, and it's only you – no one else," she explained. "You need to try it to know what I mean. Come on!" She tugged at my sleeve. I was willing to try, but not while she was full of adrenaline. I don't want to risk her hurting herself.

"In a minute," I told her.

"Okay," she agreed. I hoped she was calming down so it would be less dangerous, not that flying with Max is dangerous. But flying with a hyper Max seemed dangerous somehow.

I waited a while before saying, "Come on. Let's go to the Salt Lake."

"Finally," she said happiness in her eyes. She ran about twenty feet, me right behind her. One strong wing beat and we were fifteen feet up. A few more beats and we were at one hundred feet.

"How high up?" I asked, trying not to seem stupid.

"The usual high, duh," she said, stating the obvious. We kept going higher and higher until we were above the clouds. "Come on, grab my hands." She held out her hands, and keeping myself from double thinking, grabbed them instantly. "Hold on tight, okay? And don't you dare let go." And in one down stroke, she was already going over 200 miles per hour.


	7. 12, short again

**A/N: sorry, another single chappie, but next chappie is reallllllllllllllly long!!! Beware, next couple of chappies are really really sappy.**

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**Chapter 12**

It was exciting, and it did make sense to feel high and mighty while going that fast. We were stacked, her on top pulling me. I looked up at Max, and watched her hair be pulled back by the wind, a smile on her face. Seeing her that way made everything okay, like I've said before. She looked as if she didn't have a care in the world about anything.

She caught me looking at her, and she blushed and started giggling. I smiled back at her and started laughing with her. I wanted everything to stop right here, or at least have this moment last forever. Nothing bad was happening, only happiness and love of this moment and each other.

"This is cool," I told her. "You were right – it does make you feel high and mighty."

"Yep," she agreed. "This is what real fun is like." She looked forward, and I saw her eyes twinkle a bit. "We're right above the lake!" We slowed down, and started descending.

"Whoa," I said in amazement of the flight.

"Yep," was all Max could say.

"Do your legs feel like jelly?" I asked her, trying to make my legs not wobble. "'Cause mine do."

"Oh, I forgot to mention that," she said, laughing at me.

"Great to know that now," I said.

"Come on, let's go swimming," she said, laughing and walking towards the lake shore. I followed her, probably not going into the water. We reached the shore, early evening, and no body was there.

"What are we going to go swimming in?" I asked her. "I didn't bring anything."

"Oh," she said disappointed. "Then I'll just stand in the water. I've never been a big fan of water anyways." I saw the sad look in her eyes, but I knew she understood. She rolled up her tattered jeans to her knees, and walked down to the water's edge. "Are you gonna come?"

"Yeah, hang on," I told her, rolling up my jeans. I walked over and dipped my foot in. It was cold, but not actually cold, surprisingly. I walked in a bit deeper and felt algae (I hoped) against my leg. I went over to Max, and just stood next to her, looking out to the open water. The body of water seemed to have stretched out for at least a mile.

"It's beautiful," Max said, staring out to the big water mass.

"Yeah," I said looking at her. "You are." I grabbed her hand and she looked up at me.

"Thank you," she said, "for everything you have ever helped me with; whether it was leading or calming me down. . . Thank you." She looked down at the water, then back out. "You are who and what I live for, basically." She looked back up at me, tear rolling down her cheek. I wiped it away, then pulled her close to me and gave her a hug.

I was silent. I didn't know what to say or do besides hugging her. Never had anyone thanked me for being me or just because the loved me.

"I love you," she said, her voice muffled behind a cracking throat.

"I love you, too" I told her, all honesty in every word. "It's okay. I'll be there for you. Always. I promise." I pulled her away for a moment. "And you don't have to thank me." I brought her back into my arms, and we hung there for a few minutes.

"How 'bout we go swimming in these?" Max asked, breaking the silence and the stillness of the water. "We could let them hand somewhere over night, and I'm sure someone forgot to take some clothing or towels home with them."

"Sounds okay to me," I agreed. We let go, and ran to deeper water. "Hang on. I'm going to dive bomb; watch out, okay?"

"Okay," she said, staying where she was. I flew up high, only about one-hundred and fifty feet. I flipped upside down and tucked my great black wings in like paper and started doing flips, hoping to land not head first. Two seconds later I landed, making a huge wave, getting everything soaked.

"Fang!" Max yelled, wiping her eyes. "You got me so wet!"

"Isn't that what water does?" I told her, swiping my hair out of my eyes while getting above the water.

"Yeah, but still," she said, thinking really hard. "I wasn't ready to get wet yet."

"Sorry," I said, holding up my hands.

"It's okay." She ran over to me and tackled me, making me fall over straight on my back. "How about that?" she said, coming out of the water.

"What?" I asked, stumbling to get up.

"I got you wet." She held out her hand to help me up.

"And I already was." I grabbed her hand, making her fall down again.

"Hey!" she yelled, trying to get up again. "I got you wetter."

"And I was ready." I laughed at her lack of ability to get up.

"Whatever," she said, getting up and walking over to the shore and sat down, legs in front of her.

"Already done?" I asked, walking over to her with a small smile on my wet face.

"No, just relaxing for a few moments," she replied, running toward the water again. "Come on, let's go deeper now. I want to try something now." She went deeper, passing me and started swimming, then disappeared underwater.

I followed, already having an idea of her experiment.


	8. 13, long chappie

**AN: haha! Long chappie again! This one is pretty depressing at some point, I guess. But it's good! Really good and sappy! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 13**

Max popped up right before I reached her. We were both soaked from the water of the Salt Lake.

"Under, come on," Max insisted. She took a big breath and went under. Grabbing my own breath, I went under, too. I opened my eyes, and I was amazed at what I saw. It looked like the lake had its own coral reef. I turned around and saw Max with her wings spread out, almost swimming with them. I decided to try that, too, so I opened my wings and nearly glided under water. Max glided over to me and smiled. We swam farther, going deeper into the lake. I looked around, amazed, and then we went up for air.

"It's so cool," Max said, floating next to me. "Like, I've never seen anything like that before."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Seeing it alone would be one thing, but seeing it with you – its crazy sounding, but – it's magical almost." I smiled and laughed a little, and she joined me.

"Thanks," she said, almost blushing. She looked down as if to look for anything above the water. "Come on, there's more to see, I'm sure."

We fell back under the water, continuing our 'expedition' of the 'coral reef'. We swam under to the bottom of the lake, and stopped. I looked up – the air world looked as if it was getting darker, but lighter on the west side. I looked back at Max, who came closer and kissed me, squirting a bit of water into my mouth, but I didn't care. I grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to me. We floated up, still attached. We reached the top, and air rolled into my lungs.

We pulled apart, staring into each other's eyes. Her brown eyes and beautiful smile were only two of the many reasons I loved her so.

"Did it work?" I asked Max, breaking the silence but not the daze.

"You tell me," she replied, with sort of a secretive smile upon her face.

"I think so," I told her, smiling really big and I kissed her again. I felt fish under my feet and smiled larger. "Come on, it's getting late. We should get some rest."

Max nodded in agreement and we swam to shore, kicking and splashing water. When we reached sand, I sat down, staring out to the open water. Max sat down next to me and rested her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her and thought, _Things are bound to change once we find Iggy and them. How would the others react if they realize us treating each other differently? What would they do? They would rely on Max again, that's for sure. _I tried to put those thoughts out of my head and concentrated on the sound of water splashing against the sand. I looked over and saw that Max was asleep, still leaning on me. I smiled and kissed her forehead. That night was peaceful – just the sound of water and the slight rustle of leaves from the soft night breeze.

I rested my eyes for a while and the next thing I knew, the sun was rising and Max's head was on my stomach. I ran my fingers through her tangled brown hair. She woke up, and smiled at me.

"Good morning," she yawned, getting up. "Are we gonna fly to Idaho today? Or are we going to hang out here?"

"I don't know," I said, also getting up, brushing sand out of my hair. "Probably fly to Idaho 'cause everybody's gonna show up in a few hours, I think."

"Yeah," she agreed. "Good idea." She looked around, then at me. "We gonna fish for breakfast? I'm nearly starving."

"Do you really want to eat raw fish?" I asked, my eyebrows rising.

"You could make a fire," she stated, rolling up her jeans and heading toward the water.

"Okay," I agreed.

As she was trying to catch fish, I looked around for sticks and rocks. I walked past a couple of bushes and reached down to grab a large rock and when I came up, I was face-to-face with an Exer, who looked really hungry. Drool was dripping off of its fangs and a snarl was presented on his muzzle.

"Hello," said the Exer, pitch blackness in his eyes.

"Crap," I said under my breath, and quickly front-kicked his gut, making him let out an _umph!_ He staggered back but quickly regained his balance, just to be tripped and fall on his back. I kicked his face, making his head turn really hard and fast. Hey, kick 'em while their down is one of the best self-defense moves and mottos, I think. Blood was trickling out of his mouth, and that's when I realized I had killed him. He hadn't even _touched_ me. Man, Exers were failures.

I left the dead Exer where it was, not thinking much of it, and continued my search. I gathered a few rocks and sticks when I heard Max yell out my name. I ran to the water and found two Erasers battling her in knee-high water. One of the Erasers had wings, where as the other seemed to be an older, non-flying Eraser.

One had Max's hands behind her back, the other punching her stomach. Swearing under my breath, I ran over the edge of the water and flew over to the winged beast holding Max and kicked him square in the back. He let go of her and clawed at me, but missed. I saw Max side-kick the Eraser and he fell into the water with a huge splash.

The standing Eraser spread his wings and shot up at me. I swiftly shifted to the side, letting him eat air and not me. I saw rage in his black eyes, making me snicker a bit. He lunged at me again, this time dragging he claws against my arms. Blood dripped out, but I punched his muzzle with as most force I could muster, nearly flattening his face. He dropped down a bit, only to come back up at me. He kicked my ribs, making one crack. Pain all throughout my body, I kept a straight face. I went higher up and dropped feet-first into the Eraser's head. He fell down into the water with a long and hard splash.

I flew down to Max and the other Eraser and her eyes filled with worry and fear at the sight of my arms. She paused what she was doing and was knocked over into the water with a huge Eraser on top of her. I jumped to pry the Eraser off and was instantly knocked underwater by something hitting the back of my knee. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but air bubbles and foam. I flung my arms around to the Eraser's rough fur, but found nothing. I found the top of the lake and looked above. I didn't see anything and fear was racing through me, panic everywhere I looked. I looked up; still nothing.

"Max!" I called, frantically spinning my head to look everywhere. "Max!"

No response.

"Max! Where are you?" I yelled again. I couldn't hear her voice, and water was spilling into my ears without any control. "Max!"


	9. 14 and 15

**AN: I already have a lot of this story typed up, and the other parts are written, but that's like chapter 22 or something. There are going to be a lot of chapters, and very weird happenings. That's all I'm gonna say. Please enjoy! R&R!**

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**Chapter 14**

I was still panicked. Max still wasn't calling back; worry flooded through me but was quickly replaced by fear. _Please don't let her drown,_ I thought, heading back underwater. There, I opened my eyes, and still, no Max. I turned in all directions, but Max was no where to be found. I shot up at the site of a dark shadow above me. I looked up, relief when I saw Max. I spread out my arms, which had stopped bleeding, staying a loft with my wings. She came down and almost literally fell into my arms.

"Oh, God. Oh, God," I repeated a million times. I held her head close to mine, being thankful she was okay. "Oh, God. Thank God. I couldn't find you and…oh, God." I couldn't finish my sentence, but I'm sure she knew what I was saying. "Come on, let's go to Idaho." I motioned to the north with my head.

"Okay," Max replied, obviously really exhausted from her fight. I wanted to ask about it, but I knew she was too tired to tell me.

We rose off of the top of the water and into the air, Max panting a bit.

"Watch," she said, "I'll fall, I bet." She laughed, starting north.

"I'll catch you if you do," I assured her. I looked at her, smiling a bit; still thankful she wasn't badly injured. And for the next couple of hours, we flew north, and not once did either of us fall.

.:FMFMFMFM:.

"Iggy," Nudge asked, half asleep, "where are Fang's parents? How much longer?" Iggy ignored her. All he had heard that morning was Nudge. He felt like on the verge of hitting her.

They had to go a bit farther and at least a few more hours. He didn't know how longer he could take Nudge.

"Are we going to get anything to eat?" the Gasman asked, his stomach growling really loud. "I'm starving."

"Me, too," Angel added in, shifting Celeste in her arms. Iggy knew Angel was looking really sweet, but it killed him that he couldn't actually see it.

"I don't know," Iggy said. "But the less you complain, faster it'll be."

"Okay, Mister Snooty-Pants," Nudge joked. She still couldn't believe they were out looking for parents that probably weren't going to take the flying thing too well. She remembered what happened to Iggy, and wasn't sure she could stand having Fang gone for much longer.

"Hey, Nudge, I wonder where Max and Fang are," Angel said, flying ahead with Nudge. "Do you think they're safe?" Nudge saw the pain in Angel's eyes, and she couldn't understand why they had to leave.

"I don't know," Nudge replied, looking at the trees below them, "but I hope so. I really hope so."

"Do you think Erasers have found them?" the Gasman included.

"I hope not. But even if they were found, I think Max and Fang could take them," Nudge said, swooping to the left. Angel swooped left, too, not wanting to leave Nudge's side.

"Nudge," Angel said quietly, her big blue eyes staring at Nudge square in the eyes. "I'm scared." And a little tear rolled down her face, her cheeks already getting blotchy and pink.

"It's okay," Nudge said, sounding confident but not feeling so much. "They'll come back really soon – I'm sure." Angel looked down and thought she saw Max and Fang, but she was only hallucinating. She sighed and nodded, hoping it was true.

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**C****hapter 15**

"Yo – down to the ground, now," Iggy said, heading down himself. Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel followed, all nervous about Fang's parents. "Where are we? What street, I mean."

"East Park Center Boulevard," the Gasman read off the street sign. "Where do they live?"

"East Pennsylvania Drive, as I recall. But I wouldn't get our hopes up. It could all just be a fraud, or worse, a set-up," Iggy said, anxiety running through him.

"Okay, how far away is that?" Nudge asked, looking right and left. "And when are we going to eat?" She had had it – she hadn't had anything for breakfast that morning, and her stomach was growling like she hadn't eaten in days.

"About five blocks," Iggy said, listening intently to any cars near-by. "And if we pass anything on the way there, we'll stop there and eat. Got it?" The others nodded their heads in agreement.

"Yep," Nudge said, remembering this was Iggy and not Max or Fang. But it relieved her to hear that they might be eating, and meeting Mr. and Mrs. Fang's Parents.

.:FMFMFMFM:.

"Come on, we need to get there really quick – we don't want to miss them," I told Max, wanting to fly warp-drive.

"Okay," Max agreed, holding out her hands. "Remember, don't let go. I don't know what would happen, and I don't want to find out with you. Maybe with an Exer or Eraser." I grabbed her hands, nodding my head at the same time.

Within milliseconds, we were way far – I don't know even know how far. I turned my neck to as far as I would without breaking it to look at the world rushing below. Trees and buildings and people all rushed at speeds I had only dreamt of reaching. I was trying to pay the closest attention to where we were flying above so we didn't miss anywhere.

It was over ten minutes, but those ten minutes were great – just watching the world and things going behind while we traveled at about the speed of light. We started laughing, descending not too far off from a town.

"This is they city," Max said, opening up her arms to Boise. I didn't know how long it would take to be face-to-face with my parents, but I was sure as hell nervous. I anxiously started drum-beating on my legs, trying to act casual. "Nervous much?" She looked up at me. "Me, too." I looked at her, surprised. Why would she be nervous? I mean, it wasn't her parents we were meeting – it was mine. I'm not saying I don't think its okay for her to be nervous, I would be, too, if we meeting her parents – I just think it's weird.

"Don't worry," I told her, trying to calm her down, and myself, for that matter. "We're only going to meet them – I don't want to stay with them." I grabbed her hand, smiling, "I promise." A tear rolled down her face and I caught it.

"Okay," she said, looking a bit happier and calmer. I kissed her, hoping she wouldn't be so nervous.

"Come on," I said, looking at the city. "Let's just make this as quick and as painless as possible." She looked at me with a weird expression, but it quickly cleared. We started walking, entering the city, looking at street names and faces to find Iggy and them or Erasers and Exers. We walked about six blocks before we stopped.

.:FMFMFMFM:.

**A/N: how'd you like the first fifteen chappies???? i was originally only gonna have about fifteen chappies, but the info was a lot for just fifteen chappies. so now theres this! R&R!**

**i'll need about 15 reviews for the next chappie. and it can be all by the same person. lol.**


	10. 16, long chappie

**A/N: i've decided that 15 reviews are too long. only 10! yes, i know last time was like 7. but, you only need 10 more reviews for the next two chappies!**

**fairly long chappie. Please enjoy. Next will be two chappies!**

**Chapter 16**

"Max!" Angel cried, running toward us. "Fang!"

"Max!" Nudge followed. "Fang!"

"Iggy, its Max and Fang!" the Gasman told Iggy excitedly, tugging his shirt.

"I missed you guys!" Max said hugging Nudge and Angel. "I'm sorry I was gone for so long."

"Thanks for leaving me in charge," Iggy greeted me snidely.

"Anytime," I replied.

"Max," Angel said, her big blue eyes looking innocent. "Where did you go?"

"Yeah, where did you go? I mean, if you were gone for so long, you must have been some where," Nudge went on.

"Well, what day is it, first of all?" Max asked holding Angel at her waist.

"Thursday," the Gasman said, standing next to Iggy and me.

"Okay," she continued. "For two days I was in a big, huge white, fluffy-walled room, asleep for the first day. Then I woke up, with my usual rage, and later, Fang came, saving my butt from going crazy. Then we – " and she stopped, unsure of what to say.

"Then we escaped, by almost having to rip their heads off," I finished for her.

"Yeah," she agreed, continuing with her story; the half true version. "Then we just camped out, I'm not sure we took watched, but I haven't had any food thanks to Mr. Let's-run-into-Erasers-and-Exers-while-gathering-sticks-for-a-fire-and-not-tell-Max-until-after-she's-attacked." She glared at me, and I suppressed a smile, pleased at my decision.

"Exers?" Iggy asked for everyone.

"New half-failures," Max explained, trying to sound bored. "Half-human, half-cheetah. They claim to be quick, but I have yet to see any scratch marks from them – not even a bruise."

"So, basically, they're easier to fight then Erasers?" Nudge tried to understand.

"Yep," Max said, looking at me and not Nudge.

"Cool!" Nudge said, relief in her eyes. "Are we gonna get something to eat? I'm really hungry." While we were gone, I hadn't missed Nudge's rambling.

"Yep," Max agreed, looking around for a place to get food. "And then we're off to find Fang's parents. Got it?" Her eyes met everyone else's.

"Mhmm," Angel nodded, smiling big.

"Okay," Gazzy and Iggy said together.

"Yes!" Nudge screamed, happiness flooding her.

I just nodded my head, also looking for someplace to eat. I really didn't want to meet my parents – idiots they were to be teenagers. But I couldn't say "No" to the flock about meeting 'family'. And not matter what happened, I was not going to stay with them – just a, "Hi, I'm the son you gave up to adoption fourteen years ago. Nice meeting you," and then leave. Simple.

"Hey," Max said after scanning the area. "I found a McDonald's. Come on." She pointed to the corner and there it was – a small McD's. We crossed the street, not really paying attention to traffic, 'cause we love to be safe.

When we finished eating, it was about noon, so we figured _someone_ had to be home. Okay, I wasn't pissed that we were going to my parents, but it did make me mad a bout my mom being a genius and being a teenager with a kid.

We made our way to my supposed street. I was a bit nervous, but I didn't show it. Max had Angel in her hand, and took mine. I was almost hesitant, but I let her hand in mine. It took us about thirty minutes to reach the house, and during that half-hour, I had to not think about Max, which was really hard considering she is my life, but I didn't want Angel to find out. Now that I thought about it, I didn't want any of the flock to find out. But, I could think about that any longer because there we were, looking at my parent's house.

"Don't worry," I heard Max whisper. "It'll be over soon." She looked up at me, smiling nervously.

"Okay," I mouthed, and I rang the doorbell. It was about a minute before someone opened the door. A tall, blonde woman, with her roots overdue, appeared.

"Hello," the woman said politely.

"Ma'am," Max said, her voice quivering a bit. "Did you loose a son fourteen years ago?"

The woman nodded, pain flushing into her eyes. I tried not to be too obvious about being there for an important reason. Not that this was important.

"Might he," Max pointed to me as her voice broke. "Might he be him? He doesn't talk much, though."

The woman looked near confusion, as if it was all a joke. "What?" she said, her eyebrows showing how confused she was. "How did – how do you – why do you think this?"

"All of us were taken, and we're just finding parents," Iggy explained, stepping forward a bit.

"But –," the woman started.

"Its really complex," I spoke up.

The woman nodded. "I think there's a way to tell." She made eye contact with me and I quickly looked at Max. "My son had the strangest belly button. It wasn't an in-y or an out-y. More of just a dot." _Oh, thanks for making me sound even more freakish than I already am, Mom._

"That's sort of what his looks like," Max said, looking at me. I slowly raised my shirt slightly above my "dot".

"Oh – oh, my. Oh, my gosh," she stuttered. "You're – you're. My gosh." She looked as if she was going to faint.

"So, is he?" Max whispered, barely audible.

The woman nodded, starting to cry. "You're my son. You're my son, Maximillian."

**A/N: Maximillian?! wow! i've always thought that that was a cool name. Even during the sad days of before Maximum Ride.**

**You need like, 10 more reviews. Same 'rules'. One person can put like 10 reviews if they'd like. Haha.**


	11. 17 and 18

**A/N: yay! Chappies 17 and 18 are here!!!! Please enjoy! R&R!**

**Chapter 17**

When she said the name, my head whipped to look at her, my eyes wide.

"What's my name?" I asked, not believing what I heard.

"Maximillian," she replied, softly weeping.

I turned my attention back to Max, my eyes still huge. Max was laughing a little under her breath. It had to be impossible. No way could my name be Maximillian, and my girlfriend's Maximum.

"What's so funny?" my mom asked, realizing Max's laughter.

"His name is Maximillian – " she laughed a little more "– and mine is Maxine. It's just crazy."

"Nice to meet you, Maxine," mom greeted, a little late. "I'm Ryan. Ryan Elsu."

"Wow," I whispered, amazed at my mom's name. "Not to be rude, but how old are you?" I spoke up a little more, but keeping a bit quiet to hide my nervousness.

She stared at me for a second before saying, "30." That had me.

"15!? You were 15 when you had me?" I yelled, pissed off that I was half my mom's age. "15 when you got pregnant? Great idea, 'Mom'." I flung my arms up ready to fly away. "I may not be perfect, or 100 human, but I know what is right and what's wrong."

"It wasn't my fault," Ryan pleaded to me. "I was raped. The man was never caught or found," she whispered, her head looking down.

My expression changed from anger to regret in less than a heart beat. Everyone else's expression softened. I wanted to take off right _then_. But I just stood there, nearly dumbfounded. "Oh. I'm sorry," I muttered. I looked at her, trying to show sympathy in my eyes. "I didn't – realize – I didn't think –"

"It's okay," she replied. There was an awkward silence, probably all of us think of that.

"Are you going to stay?" Ryan broke the silence.

"No," I immediately responded. Ryan looked so shocked at my answer, and I had no explanation prepared.

"Why not?"

"I'm bad luck to some people and I don't want to risk it," I half-lied.

"I'll take that risk." She sounded like a good parent, but not for me.

"No, you don't understand," I argued with her. "I'm not full human." One of her brows softly rose, not sure what to make of that statement.

"Wh – what do you mean?" she stammered.

I look around at the street, making sure no one was there, and then I snapped out my wings. My 'mom's' face went from confused to astonished in a second.

"Oh, my," she said under her breath, her hand covering her mouth. "Is – are those – part of you?"

Max nodded for me, and I just stayed frozen. Max said nothing and Ryan just stared, amazed at my wings.

"If you don't mind," I said as politely as I could, "we need to be somewhere." I glanced at Max with my "go with it" expression.

"Yeah, sorry," Max played along.

"Oh, okay," Ryan said. "Are you sure you can't stay?"

"Yes, he's sure," Max said instantly.

Ryan looked at her, wonder why I wasn't talking for myself.

"Bye," I whispered and started walking away. No, I didn't feel bad, a little frustrated, but not mad. I got down to the driveway and said, "Nice meeting you, Mom." And I leapt up and flew into the sky.

Even from a distance, I could still see the shock on my mom's face, making me a bit nervous about what I had just done.

But hey – she set me up for this life.

**Chapter 18**

I don't know how long until Max and them caught up to me. I had started flying west – without looking back.

"Hey," Max said, approaching me, hovering above trees. "What the hell was that about?"

I couldn't look at her – I knew she was half mad, half embarrassed. I knew my actions were the worst she had seen in years. I was just pissed.

"Sorry," I managed, still not looking anywhere near her.

"Look at me," she whispered. "I'm not mad. I think you could've reacted better." I looked at her, hoping to not see a monster with fire coming out of her nose. "I love you," she mouthed.

"I love you, too," I mouthed back.

"Just next time, please, _please_, think about what you're going to say and do before you do," she lectured. I almost wanted to roll my eyes. "Okay?"

"Okay," I agreed. I started flying west again, sort of motioning my shoulder for them to follow.

"Max?" I heard Angel. "Do you love me?"

"Yep," Max replied.

"Do you love Nudge?"

"Yep," she said again.

"Gazzy?"

"Of course."

"Iggy?"

"Yes," she said, not showing how bored she was. "Why do you ask, sweetie?"

"Do you love us as much as you love Fang?"

I stopped flying, pausing in midair.

And, of course, Max had to be directly behind me, so she bumped into me, and nearly fell. I caught her, and she gave me a "Crap – Angel" sort of look.

"Max?" came Angel's voice. "You okay?"

"Uh…yeah," she said, getting steady with her wing beat again.

"Well, do you?" Angel pushed.

"Do I what?" Max avoided the question.

"Love us like Fang?"

"Yes," Max lied, meeting my graze. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering." But I wasn't fully convinced about her answer.

Max started flying again, nodding her head. I followed close behind her, then Iggy, Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge.

We flew for about four hours when we stopped to rest in trees.

But, no; our lives can't be easy as to just have met someone's parents and then live happily-ever-after.

No.

We had to top off the day with our favorites.

"Crap," I muttered.

"Okay, these are Exers and Erasers – get ready to fight," Max ordered.

**A/N: yay! Exers and Erasers! Our favorites! (sarcasm, please ppl) again, sorry the 10 Reviews. You know the drill! 5-6-7-8 BREAK! Hehe.**


	12. 19, shorty i guess

**Chapter 19**

We flew down, Max, Iggy and me in front of the others. The first couple came directly at us, then they appeared from everywhere. They came out with guns, swords, ropes – everything and anything that could be used to kill. One swung it's sword at me, but I barely cleared his reach, then, twisting his hand behind his back, grabbing his sword and cutting up his arms. He bled a lot and howled in pain. Then I remembered Max – I had just done what had scared me most.

Then I heard a bullet graze the side of me. I turned around to see the only Exer with a gun. I took a quick look at all the weapons the Erasers and Exers were using, which was quite limited. All I had was a sword and Max was working on an Eraser with a rope, which had to be around her neck. She wrestled with him, trying to use his weight against him. He flipped over her, pulling the rope and Max with him. Now the rope was only in the Eraser's hand, not around Max's neck. Max was punching his head every which direction. Blood was splashing out of his mouth and nose like a fountain. I heard a _Crack_ come from the Eraser's neck. She jumped off of him, and I turned my attention back to the gunned Exer, and just missed a shot to my side. I ran towards him, avoiding any bullet I could, and jabbed him once in the eye and once across the muzzle. His gun went off and I felt warm blood.

I saw red and blacked out.

.:FMFMFMFM:.

"Fang? Fang!" I heard Max yell. I opened my eyes a slit. And saw everyone but the Exers and Erasers. "Fang? Can you hear me?"

I moaned, not feeling pain, but feeling Max's hand in mine. I'm sure she was worried; I'm sure everyone was worried. I opened my eyes a little more and could see Max's beautiful face.

"Are you okay?" Max asked and I could sense the fear in her face and voice. I nodded slightly and tried to boost myself up off of whatever I was on. "No! Don't move!"

"Okay," I muttered and I saw relief fill her eyes. "So, do you know what happened?" I wasn't in a lot of pain now, but I had an ache in my arm. I looked at everyone who were all shaking their heads except Max.

"I saw you fighting an Exer and I heard a gun shot," Max started, tears starting to roll down her soft cheeks. "I saw blood, and all I could think was 'Fang, don't be stupid enough to be shot.'" A choked laugh left her and she wiped away a tear. "The Exer didn't fall, you did, and I ran over to you, but you were past out. I don't know why, but all of them just ran away."

"Really?" I asked, feeling excited but not fully believing it.

"We waited a few minutes to see if they would come back, but they didn't," Max continued explaining. "When they didn't come back, we came over to you, hoping you weren't dead."

"Dead? Why did you think that?" I wondered, surprised to be thought dead.

"Well," Max started just as Angel sent to me _Look at your side._ I looked at my side and expression hit my face – _I had a hole going into my arm._ I was scarred, and showed it. Max grabbed my hand from the non-holed arm.

"It's okay," Max said, more tears streaking down her face. "It stopped bleeding an hour ago."

"I was out for that long?" I said, shocked. Max nodded, still holding my hand. Suddenly, Angel came into my mind.

_How much do you love Max?_ she asked.

_About as much as I love you, _I replied. _Why do you ask?_

_Because she's always on your mind,_ Angel thought back.

_Don't tell anyone – not even Max,_ I warned her.

_Okay._

I tried to get up again, and Max started to stop me, but then she thought better of it. I was able to push myself into a sitting position, but nothing farther. I examined my surroundings: in a forest, my head was on a rock, (my blood in a trail), and sunlight broke through the leaves of the tall trees.

"How long have I been here?" I asked after looking everywhere.

"About two hours, after all of them," Max answered, referring to the Exers and Erasers leaving. Max squeezed my hand and I knew what she was wandering. I nodded back. I looked back at my arm, wondering how much blood I had lost.

"Come on, try to get up," Max urged me. She let go of my hand and I tried to lift myself with one arm. Slowly and painfully, I stood up. I was a bit dizzy, but I held myself still. I looked at Max, who had taken my hand again, and then at Angel. She was smiling huge, holding Celeste in her hand and holding Iggy's hand in her other.

To everyone's surprise, I smiled. Angel probably told Iggy telepathically because he nodded.

"So, what now?" I asked, still a bit exhausted.

"Well, we still have the School," the Gasman suggested. "How 'bout we explode that place?"

"Good idea," Iggy agreed, happy about the thought of blowing something up with one of his homemade bombs. "Max?"

"Sure," Max said after a long pause of thinking. "But we have to get all the experiments out first. Got it?" Everyone nodded, and I just looked at her, thinking she was a bit crazier than usual. But I went with everyone else.

Iggy and Nudge leapt up first, followed by Angel and the Gasman.

"You think you can fly?" Max asked me and I knew she was worried I might fall out of the sky.

"Yeah," I replied. "I can. I feel I can." I smiled faintly and rose half way up the trees with one hard beat of my fourteen food wing-span black wings. I felt Max followed me, closely watching me to be sure I didn't fall. We joined the others, all in one tight clump, my wings brushing against Max's on the down strokes.

**A/N: GASP! Fang got shot! Ahh!!!! Please leave 5 reviews for the next chappie(s).**


	13. 20 and 21

**A/N: oh my! The next chappies are here!!! Please enjoy!**

**Chapter 20**

We reached central California in good timing, and found a tree to rest in. It was still light out, but Iggy and the others crashed almost immediately once we landed.

"So, has Angel asked you?" Max asked, one of her legs swinging off of the tree, the other flat on a thick branch.

"Yes," I said, knowing what she was talking about, not pretending not to.

"What did you tell her?"

"That I loved you as much as her."

"That's basically what I said when she asked me."

"Then she asked why you were on my mind twenty-four-seven," I continued. Max smiled, and I knew she was think about me, again. "But I couldn't hold back – she had Bambi eyes. So I told her not to tell anyone." Max's jaw dropped, and she understood what I meant by that.

"You what?!" Max practically yelled.

"It could mean anything to her," I explained, trying to calm her down before she woke anyone up.

"Do you realize what could happen?" she inquired, standing up on her branch.

"Anyone could understand," I said, getting up on my branch, too. "They could understand . . . us. Or they could take it the wrong way. You never know."

"They're kids, they could take it as," Max started, but stopped as she heard Nudge rambling in her sleep. "They could take it as we'll only protect each other and no one else," she whispered.

"But they aren't like that. They know us – you – really well. They should know you will protect them with your life," I said, jumping over to Max's branch. I walked over to her, careful of all the slipped bark.

"Yeah, but," Max started, but stopped, realizing I was right. "Let's just hope Angel doesn't spill the beans."

I nodded in agreement, continuing to walk closer to her. When I was close enough, I took her hand in mine. She seemed startled at first, but then realized it was me. We stared at the setting sun, watching it until it was gone below the horizon.

**Chapter 21**

I took the first watch, letting Max sleep for a while, and then she'd take second watch. Every once in a while Max's eyes would tighten and I knew she was remembering the School. We always feared the School, having nightmares of going back, memories of living there. I stared at her, wondering when our nightmare would finally be over.

A second later, Max's eyes shot open, and I made my _What? _expression, but she didn't respond. She quickly took a 360 check. Her mouth made the words _Get everyone up – we need to get out._ I barely nodded my head and lightly tapped Iggy's leg, making him wake up, silent and alert. I tapped Angel's leg and she woke with her big blue eyes with fear. Max woke up Nudge and the Gasman, and silently as possible, we flew out of the big tree.

"Exers," Iggy mouthed, making us even tenser than what we already were.

"And Erasers," Angel added, barely auditable. We all nodded, heading north-west. True, we were going to go down to the School in beautiful Southern California, but right now, we couldn't let the Erasers and friends know that we were.

So we were heading towards Oregon, but only for a little while, before redirecting back to the School. After the School, maybe we'd check out our old house, see if it was still standing – and not blown up into a million tiny pieces.

"Their coming in," Angel announced, "fast."

Okay, even that go me a bit worried, but I was used to the whole "fly for your life or die (literally)" that it didn't bother me that severely.

Within two minutes, we could barely see their hairy bodies running across the ground. We tried not to be seen, but – oops – too late.

They looked up and saw us, almost stopping in their tracks. Max and I glanced at each other, already knowing what to do. We swooped down, ready to grab an Exer and drop him from far up onto another experiment. Exers were heavy, but not much. I guess they're one of the experiments that have an eating disorder. We went up to about ten-thousand feet high and aimed for a small speck. We nodded, and – oops – our hands slipped. The Exer flailed his arms while falling. Approximately three second later, the Exer took out about four Erasers and Exers.

We flew back down to fight on the ground, and already Iggy was just about beaten to the max, but he didn't stop. I found an Exer about to attack Angel, but I quickly kicked him on the back of the neck. He crumpled down to his knees, letting me land another kick to the middle of his back, causing him to face first fall.

Angel saw what I had down, and she smiled really big, probably showing her thanks. I turned around, almost straight into and Eraser. _Finally! An actual challenge!_ I thought really quickly. He swung his claw at me and I ducked, making him dig his claws into his arm. I kicked the back of knee then chopped him where his neck meets his shoulder. He tumbled down, and I kicked his stomach several times. When I was sure he was out, I scanned everyone. There only a few to begin with, but a couple lay on the ground, motionless.

Then – BAM – everyone retreated. They ran and ran fast. The motionless ones, obviously, staid where they were. I felt Max looking at me, so I returned the gaze. Her brown eyes were looking in mine, trying to find something to say to the flock on what to do. I didn't show any answers – as per usual – but I'm sure she didn't have that much trouble on her own.

"Okay," Max clapped her hands together for everyone to pay attention. "Here's the deal: We're not going to fly that far tomorrow. Not all the way to the School. We're going to fly about a third of the way there, then stay there for the rest of the day. Then the next day, the other third. The day after, the last bit of flying to the School. I don't know how far, but pretty far. Just incase they think we're going there."

Everyone nodded, except Angel. Her hugely blue eyes seemed to be lost and scared.

"Do we have to go back?" Angel asked in a quiet voice.

That had Max stuck. I'm sure she was debating over whether or not to lie. She didn't like seeing anyone of the flock scared and I'm sure seeing Angel scared go her tied up in a knot.

"Yes," Max said after a long thought, "but we'll go to Knott's Berry Farm afterwards. I promise." Angel made a faint smile, almost happy to hear that we were going to a theme park after a living nightmare. I almost smiled, but I quickly stopped as I realized I was still with everyone and not just Max and Angel.

"Max?" the Gasman yawned. "Are we going to sleep the rest of the night?"

"Yeah, I'm really tired." Tired or not, Nudge would talk. As suspected.

"Yep," Max answered, looking up at the towering trees. "That one." She pointed to a bushy tree and flew up there. We all followed with tired faces. It was sturdy, and weirdly soft. It was still my watch, so I watched everyone fall asleep.

**A/N: yay for sleep! 5 reviews!!!!! Unless you don't care about the story. But, yea. I love Fax. I do.**


	14. 22, loong

**A/N: okay, so you're like, really catching up to where I have been stuck typing up. Don't worry, I have like ten more chappies written on paper, just a few are actually typed onto my laptop.**

**Disclaimer: hey! I'm not a guy! How many times do I have to yell at the guys at camp that I am a girl! So obviously I'm not JP, who really owns MR. I just own me.**

**Chapter 22**

The next morning, we were off. We stopped at a market at the nearby town, and bought breakfast. Eating while flying can sometimes be a skill, but overall easy. Now we were eating over some oil fields. There's something new – California and oil fields.

Anyway.

Angel noticed my mind, again, and that meant bad news for someone. Her graze slowly moved from the oil fields and then to Max. I could tell Angel was telling Max my **secret** thoughts. Luckily, not much was on my mind except us being happy that the School was going to explode. I don't think Angel should've seen all my graphic pictures of whitecoats exploding, blowing up into the sky and burning. Not pleasant for a seven year old girl. Max nodded at Angel and came over to me.

"Good job," she said sarcastically. "Just let the littlest girl see some of the scariest images." She smiled at me and lightly pushed me. I nudged her back.

"Jeez," Angel whispered. "Get a room." Angel's eyes went wide. "Oops." She clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Huh?" Nudge sounded confused. "Oo-oo! Max and Fang, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

"Oh, my gosh," the Gasman said, and Iggy was laughing uncontrollably behind him.

I saw Max almost blush, but then realized what we had talked about the night before.

"Sorry," said Angel with her hands still over her mouth.

"It's okay," Max said. "It was bound to have happened." The sad part was that it was true. We were sure it was going to have been found out sooner or later. I hoped her she could read the slightest bit of expression in my eyes, telling her, "Hope for the best."

"Aren't they perfect? Look at them; always flirting and they totally get each other – you can see it in Max's face," announced Nudge. Maybe it was okay with her.

"Oh, please," Iggy spoke up. "Max isn't Fang's type. Fang likes girls with red hair, as I recall." Not true. Lissa used me.

"Oh, you know me better than me?" I blurted out, accidentally.

"So you _do_ like Max!" Nudge interpreted.

"I never said that."

"But that's what you meant," she teased.

"No, I didn't," I argued. Word of the wise: Don't argue with me about my personal life unless it is affecting you in some sort of horrible or unimaginable way. But, of course, Nudge didn't know that.

"Yes, you did!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Fang! Nudge!" Max yelled over us.

"She said your name first," Nudge whispered.

"Sh!" I hissed.

"Stop fighting! Both of you!" Max was yelling and I'd never heard her yell that hard before. "Nudge – learn to control yourself. You're almost thirteen. Fang – just… stop acting up."

_'Stop acting up'? I'm sorry, did you think I was 'acting up'?_ I thought to myself.

"You're both acting like freaking four year olds. Learn to act your ages!" Max's voice was sounding like cold metal stabbing your ears and brain.

"Okay," I agreed.

"Fine," Nudge huffed.

"Can I take my hands out of my ears now?" Iggy asked, his hands covering his ears, most likely to stop his brain from exploding over to yelling of our argument.

"Yeah," the Gasman said, flying next to him.

"Sorry," Angel apologized again.

"It's okay." Max had no expression or emotion in any word that she spoke. She must be having a really hard time arguing with herself. "I'll just say it."

Oh, crap.

Well, maybe it'll be better for them to know.

"Fang and I," Max started, looking at me. I took her hand in mine, and she showed a quick thank you smile and continued on. "We, uh, we sorta, kinda, really, um, are, uh, boyfriend and girlfriend." She rushed the last part, but I'm sure everyone understood her.

"I knew it!" Nudge exclaimed, jumping as much as you can in air.

"She took it well," I whispered to Max, who giggled.

"Yes, I did know this," Angel said, trying not to sound guilty with her head down.

The Gasman looked confused, trying to figure out what Max and just said.

"For real?" Iggy asked, unsure if what Max had said was true.

"Yeah," I answered, hopefully clarifying some things for Gazzy. Iggy tucked in his wings, and like paper, dived bombed for the oil fields directly below us.

"So, everyone but Iggy?" Max asked, talking about them and us.

"Yeah, some how I didn't think he would take it well," I said honestly.

"I hope he'll understand later," Max said as we were slowly descending to the oil fields surrounding Iggy.

Iggy was sitting between two oil machines, his sightless eyes drifting off.

"Iggy," Max whispered, approaching him with caution. "Iggy, please understand. We –"

"We're just trying to destroy the flock with love and happiness?" Iggy was almost spitting his words at us. "Well, congratulations, you just destroyed me!" He let his head fall into his hands and _cried_. Iggy never cries. I think I had only seen him cry twice.

"Iggy," Max said, putting her hand on his shoulders. "You know that I would never destroy the flock. You guys are my family – I wouldn't let anything or anyone get in between me and saving my flock." I gave her a small smile, knowing she was true to her word.

"And, dude," I spoke up, trying not to sound so cool. "Don't think I'll ever stop helping you or saving your ass." I think he almost smiled, but only momentarily.

"We love you to death, Igs," she assured him. "I don't think I'll try to kill you anytime soon. Maybe threaten, but not actually."

"Yeah," I chimed in. "We are your family, and we will always depend on each other."

"So, we cool now, right?" Max asked him.

"Fine," Iggy agreed. "But, please, don't give each other nicknames like Honey-wings or Birdy-poo." Iggy raised his head and pointed at us, laughing. We laughed, too; Iggy had to say Birdy-poo, didn't he?

"I promise, and none of my fingers are crossed," Max joked.

"Same," I said, trying to recover from laughing. "Come on." I motioned to the younger ones above us, and took off for them. Iggy followed me, and soon came Max.

"So, just a bit farther south, then we'll find somewhere to rest," Max instructed us. Everyone nodded, and we took off farther south.

**A/N: next chappie is gonna be fairly short, I think…sorry! But, look! Now the flock knows! And I thought it would be more real if Iggy acted up because he relies on Max and Fang for practically everything. So, simple reason.**

**Please review! Only need five! Yay!**


	15. 23, shorty

**A/n: short chappie. Next chappie long! Okay! Yay!**

**Chapter 23**

So, we found a nice flat piece of land to sleep on for the night. Max had first watch, I didn't want to fall asleep without Max. I sat next to her with our fire warming us up. She leaned her head on my shoulder, just staring at the blaze. I wrapped my arm around her waist and thought about the oil fields.

_Why did Iggy think that? Why would he?_ Maybe he felt as if love could take over safety, which seems really odd. I mean, you might risk your safety for someone you love, and Max loved us all – she just had a different love for me. She would rather be killed trying to save one of us than us being killed by "scientists". She would take on a whole army of Erasers just to be sure we were okay. And Iggy knew that. Right?

"Why?" Max said out of thin air.

"Why what?" I asked, feeling compelled to know the question to give her the answer.

"Why the world? Why life? Why combine DNA? Why love? Why hate?" she inquired, still staring at the fire.

Those were some of the hardest questions I have ever heard – rhetorical or answerable.

"Why world domination?" I added. I was still puzzled over her questions. She turned her head a little to look at me and nodded.

"We need to make a 'Why?' list. Might make some things easier," she said, slightly giggling.

"Yeah," I agreed, thinking up some more Why's. The funny thing about why's is that not always will you have an answer. You could get stuck on one question for hours before realizing there is no actual answer.

"Why the sun? Why the moon?" Max went on. "Why darkness? Why light? Why fear? Why be brave? Why death? Why sleep? Why…me?"

"What do you mean 'me'?" I asked, wondering why she said herself?

"I don't know. Why am I supposed to be leading everyone? Why at this age? Why couldn't I have been older?" She seemed so concerned about all these questions.

"Hmm. Why are there rules? Why do we care about the rules? Why don't we kill the whitecoats? Why are they still making recombined DNA? Why are they…demented?" I know I was sounding really mean and evil, but even thinking about Them made me sick. "Why be tested? Why be kept in cages? Why be taught? Why learn?" These questions boggled my mind, and Max's as well. Now I was longing for the answers to just appear in my brain.

I looked at Max, her head still resting upon my shoulder. Her eyes were closed and I could tell what she was thinking: keep everyone safe; eating; dealing with Iggy; and destroying the School. I knew it took her a lot to run everyone and still have some sanity left. How she has done it for at least five years is beyond me. I would've cracked. Literally cracked. I wouldn't be able to hold up everything like she does.

Soon, I realized, she was asleep – past out from our little unanswered questions marathon. Man, did I want answers. But I just stared out at the fire, now only glowing embers, kissed Max's head, and took the next two watches.

**A/N: see! Short chappie! But I like the whole 'why list'. I think I'm going to make one…just cause.**

**Okay, so i'm trying to type as much as i can, but my mom keeps on making me run some errands. but don't worry, i'll still be updating!**

**only five reviews to the next loong chappie!**

** rainxface**


	16. 24, loong!

**AN: okay, so this chappie is long. And really cool! Haha!**

**Disclaimer: don't own MR**

**But the people you don't recognize, I own! Haha!**

**Chapter 24**

"Good morning!" Iggy yelled, waking me from dreaming of normal life and my mom. "I'm making breakfast soon. Get up before I kick you." He laughed while walking around, gently nudging everyone with his boot.

"I'm up," I yawned, getting up before he kicked me.

"Huh?" Max mumbled, scratching her head. "Oh, good. Food."

"What're you making?" Nudge asked after waiting half-asleep on her back.

"Eggs," Iggy replied, cracking some eggs onto a rock which was hopefully clean.

"Yum," said Angel, rubbing her eyes.

"I love food," Gazzy said, sitting up.

"Hopefully today we won't have to fly as fast because we know how long it will be, approximately," Max said.

We all agreed and were quickly given sunny-side up eggs. We almost inhaled it and were in the sky before nine. Hopefully, we would make good time and Angel wouldn't ask to go to Knott's Berry Farm or whatever is down there. I really didn't feel like going to a park with almost millions of people in a tight space.

"Max, can we go some place big?" Angel asked once we crossed over into the Orange County line. "I really wanna go to an amusement park!"

"Yeah! Knott's Berry Farm or somewhere!" Nudge chimed in. "Or Soak City!"

"Maybe – if we have time." Max didn't seem too thrilled about another tight space. Finally, someone joins my side.

Of course, Buena Park was only a few miles farther down in California, that'd be a lot less complicated. But, no. Someone had to build an enormous theme park right in our flight path. But we'll deal with that after we kill the School.

But when we passed over Knott's, I actually wanted to go. Seeing Ghost Rider go up and down and look like its flying off the tracks was just my type of ride. Too bad Max probably wouldn't go on it. Then Xcelerator caught my eye. It shot out of the loading pad and hit over 60 mph within a second. Another ride Max would fail to go on.

We quickly passed Knott's and were looking for a place to stay. A lot of the parks were surrounded by only houses – aka, not good. We passed one park that looked like all the others, but after we passed it, we flew into a Navy Base. We quickly rounded back to the last park and found some tall trees. It was still pretty early in the after noon, so we just let our wings tuck in as much as possible, and slipped into our jackets. The little ones immediately went for the play equipment, whereas Max, Iggy and I seated ourselves at a table near by.

Nudge and Angel took turns swinging across the monkey bars, and Gazzy was calling over Iggy to go on the slides. Iggy left the table, where Gazzy grabbed his hand and hauled him over to the slides. Max got up and moved over to the swings, where I followed. _If only our lives could have always been like this – no problems, no Erasers or Exers, nothing wrong,_ I thought to myself, watching the youngsters goof off.

"Oh, my gosh! Guess what! I got The Summer Obsession CD! It is so good!" I heard a girl's voice coming from the western entrance.

"Max," I whispered. "Stay or go?" I glanced at the girl out of the corner of my eye, and she was accompanied by a guy.

"Stay." Max stole a glance at the couple. "Just ignore them. They don't look like harm." I nodded and focused my attention to Angel, who had finished making her way across the bars.

"Oh, my gosh. I, like, can't believe we've, like, only been out of school for, like, two weeks – it feels like two years!" the girl's voice got louder as she made her way to the small play house.

"Yeah, like, I miss seeing you and Michelle and everyone else everyday," the boy agreed. It was funny listening to him talk – his voice hadn't dropped yet. "But, on the other hand, sleeping until your best friend comes over to make you get your ass out of bed is way much better than an alarm clock."

I never realized how much some people can talk – besides Nudge. Those two were chatter boxes set on high. Not to mention, in love with the word 'like' and flipping their hair.

Then the girl walked over to where Max and I were and said, "Hey, wanna play hide and seek?" The girl was smiling big, and I could tell by that face that she was probably about my age. "I'm D'anette. That's my friend, Colin. You wanna play? Colin will be 'it' first." **(A/N: yea, i actually do volunteer my friends for that sorta job...lol!)**

"Um, okay," Max agreed. "I'm Maxine, but I go by Max. This is Maximillian. We're not related, just a coincidence. Those are my siblings, James, Ariel and Cole. That's Maximillian's sister, Harmony." Great. I get my birth name. Oh, well, so does Iggy. But we could've gone by our other names!

I don't think the girl – D'anette – was comparing us, but I'm sure she was happy to meet new people.

"Who wants to play hide and seek?" Max yelled to the flock.

Angel and Nudge immediately screamed, "ME!"

"I do!" Gazzy exclaimed.

"I'll sit out," Iggy said, sliding down the slide and carefully walked over to us. "I guess it would by hard to play hide and seek if you're blind."

Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge all came over really quickly, probably wanting to know how they play hide and seek.

"Yo, Colin!" D'anette hollered. Colin walked next to D'anette. His height versus her were basically equal to how much taller I was to Max – her eyes basically at his shoulders. "Okay, here's how to play for those not in the know: There's one person who's it, for the first round, its Colin. He'll count to thirty in seconds, and we'll run like hell to a hiding spot. The last one found wins, and the first person found is the next person it. Ready? Oh, and while you're counting, close your eyes – no cheating."

"One . . . two . . ." Colin counted. We ran. We ran behind trees, trashcans, walls, but D'anette had the genius idea of inside trees. Like, climbing the trees then blending in with the leaves.

So, she was the last one found, and I had to have the worst spot. But the game was easy – find some where to hid and stay quiet. And Max didn't seem to understand the 'stay quiet' part, so finding her was easy. But we played the game for an hour before we called it quits.

"Oh, my gosh! I love climbing trees!" D'anette exclaimed.

"Yes, but look at yourself – you're covered in scratches," Colin told her. As far as I could tell, they were always flirting. And, of course, Max _had_ to ask the questions.

"Hey, how old are you guys?" Max asked them.

"12," D'anette responded.

"11, she's older than me by a few months," Colin said.

"Really?" They were that young? Max continued. "Are you two boyfriend-girlfriend?"

"No, used to be, though," D'anette answered. "But, I love him like a brother – only, we don't fight, and we flirt a lot."

"Yeah," Colin confirmed.

"And I'm single," D'anette wedged in there, probably to me. Sorry honey – my heart belongs to Max. "And I love strawberry blond hair, blue eyed boys." Now she was aiming at Iggy. I hope she likes wings and can deal with blindness.

"Do you live around here?" Max asked.

"I live right there," D'anette pointed to a two-story house right next to the park. "You guys hungry? None of my family is home, so we can chill there."

"Okay," Max agreed, after thinking really hard.

"Come on," D'anette invited. And – BAM – we were going into a normal house.

**A/N: yay! OC's!!! haha! Well, not that much of OC's…more of me and my friend. Haha! But OC's in this story!!! Haha!**

**Next chappie is gonna take a while to get up here… so sorry if I don't update for like a few weeks…**


	17. Sorry, AN about title

**Ahg! Its what everyone hates! An author's note!**

**But this one is about the title.**

**I still got nothing for the title, and the current title is really getting on my nerves.**

**Please help me!!!**

**Give me ideas!**

**Yes, I am typing up the chappie, which I'm almost done, but I'm gonna wait a while (aw…) to post that way I have some chappies to add once you get to five reviews for the latest chappie.**

**Hopefully that made sense.**

**But, I need title ideas!!!!!!!**

**And I'm planning out the rest of the story. Haha!**

**Please give me ideas!**

**rainxface**

**PS: tell me how you feel about the OC's (aka, me and my BGFF). I'm gonna add some more of my friends later in the story, so I want to know how you feel. Please and thanx!**


	18. 25, loong

Maximum Ride: Fang's Point of View

**A/N: sorry about how long it took to update!!!! The next update might take a while… so, sorry if that one takes a while to get up. But other than that, please enjoy!**

**Chapter 25**

"Please excuse our mess," D'anette said, opening up the front door with a key. Behind the door was one of the cleanest houses I have ever seen, and I've only seen about two. She walked into the living room. "Come on, don't be shy." She walked into a farther room and yelled, "Want anything to eat or drink? We have a lot of orange juice!"

With a nod from Max, we all walked in, followed by Colin.

"Sure," Max called back to D'anette. Less than a minute later, D'anette came back to the bigger room and put down numerous bags of pretzels, apples, and orange juice on the table.

"Help yourself – we have tons," she said, opening up an orange juice. She took a gulp, then looked puzzled. "Do you guys really live around here? Like did you just move?"

"Now, we're just visiting family," Max said coolly, taking a bite out of a pretzel.

"Okay. How old are you guys?" She loved asking questions, it seemed.

"I'm 15," Max replied.

"Same here," said Iggy.

"15," came my voice. Very soft, very friendly so I didn't scare her.

"I'm seven," Angel said sweetly after a nod from Max.

"I'm 12! Just like you!" Nudge exclaimed.

"I'm 9," Gazzy cut off Nudge before she could say anymore.

"You look like you're our age," Max said. Taking another glance at her, I studied her face. Her face was clear and tan. Her hair looked a mess, but I guess that's what happens after climbing trees for an hour.

"I've been told I look 18. Once I was asked what college I went to," D'anette laughed out.

Max and them laughed, and I realized, she _could_ pass as a really short college student.

"You don't talk much do you?" D'anette suddenly turned to me. "Do you listen to a lot of music?"

"No and yes. The Summer Obsession rocks," I replied. I don't like full sentences.

"No effing way! I effing love TSO!" she exclaimed. Okay, can we say 'Scary'? "Wanna listen to them? I can reach it from my TV." She walked into the bigger room, grabbing a remote, then clicking some buttons. Soon, we were listening to The Summer Obsession. She started singing, and she was good – but not the best, like Kelly Clarkson.

"What's your favorite song?" she asked, holding the remote in her hand, orange juice in the other.

"_Disappear_," I told her. That song described me – I _was _in a world I couldn't handle or escape, and I was only 15. That's one of the reasons I'm so quiet; so I could always be in a place that I could get away to, if only temporary. A world I did know, I could handle, and that I belonged to.

"Okay, _Disappear_ it is." D'anette clicked a button and the song came on.

"On a completely different subject," she started, half way through the song, "it seems very unlikely that you are here visiting family, considering the average family in this section of town has no siblings. What are you guys really doing here?" How did she know this? How was she so smart? I have no clue.

"Okay," Max gave in. D'anette clearly never missed a day of school. "We're runaways. All of us." Great.

"Ariel and Cole seem pretty young for runaways," Colin spoke up. He seemed quiet. And cool.

"We found them bruised up – they were abused," Nudge lied. She's so taking after Max.

"Oh," D'anette said, giving both of them hugs. Weird – she wasn't afraid of people. "I'm not trying to be nosy, but why did you run away?"

"She seemed like a trust worthy person, but we'll only release information to truly trusted people.

"We were all abused," I half-lied. Was being tested on count as abuse? Sure.

"We all sorta lived on the same street, and we all knew each other and our deep secrets, so one day we banded together and ran away." Good story, Max.

"Wow, sorry I asked," D'anette apologized quietly.

"Its okay – its in the past, and all we have to do is think about the future," Nudge chimed in.

_Do we trust her?_ Angel sent to me in my thoughts, and probably also to Max.

I did a bit, but there were still some quirks about her – she seemed off. I saw Max slightly nod, and it was odd – Max usually didn't trust anyone but us six.

_Her mind is filled with imagination_, Angel told us. _Like, she talks to people other than herself. It's a bit scary._

"D'anette?" Max said. Oh, crap. "Do you like fantasy sorta stuff? Like, almost sci-fi?" D'anette nodded her head. No, Max. "Do you ever believe it?" Just don't include me.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" she replied.

"Well, uh. . . We are sorta sci-if-ish ourselves. We have, um. . .wings," Max whispered. Boy, I just wanted to clamp my hand over her mouth so she would shut up.

"Really?" Colin said. D'anette's jaw was agape, and slowly Max took off her jacket, opening up her beautiful wings. Max's wings were beautiful, yes, but I really just wanted to yell at her, "Idiot!"

"Whoa," D'anette managed to mutter. "You all have them?" We all nodded, a slight nod coming from me. "I think I've read a book about that. I think. Probably no, though. Probably something that I thought up a few years back. I have a crazy imagination."

"What was your thought?" Max asked, obviously curious about her idea. Maybe they were like our lives.

"Well, it started with a picture I drew; a girl with angel white wings. I drew it in 3rd grade, and I tried to draw something like it earlier this year, but failed," D'anette explained, putting some emphasis on some words. "I thought up a story to correspond with the drawing. It was around, like, a girl had bird wings patched on her and she was always avoiding people. She was having issues, but in the end, she was perfect. Something like that." Our mouths were dropped for a while. D'anette just shrugged. "It's not that good. Just a rough draft engraved into my mind. And that was three years ago." Then she saw us all, mouths open and eyes wide. "What?"

"You basically described our lives," Max barely whispered.

"I did? You guys were captured and changed into a little bit of birds? And someone is, like, dealing with something huge?" D'anette at first didn't believe us, but then decided for the best. "Wow – I'm good."

"Do you still have the picture?" I inquired. I had to see this picture.

"I think so – I should," D'anette thought out loud. "It should be on my board. Hang on." She ran up the stairs and into a room I couldn't see.

She returned a few minutes later with a regular piece of paper flying around in her hand.

"Like I said, it's not the best." She flattened the out the paper on the table, and we all huddled around the picture like it was the Mona Lisa.

"Oh my," Max said, studying every little detail. The picture was half sketched. It wasn't done, but it did look very professional.

"What does it look like?" Iggy asked impatiently.

"She's in pigtails. She's in, like, a unitard. It's not colored. Her wings are detailed in wings," Nudge explained to him.

No doubt, Nudge was right – it wasn't colored, she did have pigtails with curly hair, and a leotard kind of thing. Her wings were feathered, some feathers not even with the others.

"Whoa," the Gasman said, amazed at the coincidental drawing.

"What do you think she would have looked like if she was finished?" Angel asked, looking at D'anette then her drawing. I could tell she was searching D'anette's thoughts.

"I don't know. I was bored in class, so I just took out paper and my pencil and drew," she replied. "I don't think I had any intentions to finished it, really. Just to leave it as it was to admire my old artistic abilities that have sadly escaped me." She laughed a little.

I motioned to Max to me – I needed to talk to her ASAP. How could she release our information – our top secret information – to someone we just met? Max came over to me, sitting on a chair.

"Outside, now," I told her in a hushed 'don't mess with me' tone. Her face changed from amazement to innocent in a blink of an eye.

"Okay." I lead her out the front door, closing it behind her.

**A/N: okay, like I said, might take a while for the next chappie. But I will get it up as soon as I can!!! Remember, 5 reviews!**

**Oh, and I will be changing the title fairly soon, so just remember to read the summary to match it up.**

**rainxface**


	19. 26, shorty sorry

**A/N: okay, so it took a little while, but that's because I wanted some start on the next chappie. This is one is rather short, so sorry. I didn't mean for it to be. But, here it is…**

**Chapter 26**

"What the heck is going on in your head?" I nearly scolded Max. I felt a bit guilty, but she was releasing confidential information to complete strangers!

"Maybe she could've helped us. That's what I'm thinking," she spat back. I saw tears forming in her eyes.

"But what if she uses that against us?" I know – I was finding reasons now. But our rules were to never, under any circumstances, were we to tell anyone about our wings.

"She's not that kind of girl. Besides, would've Angel picked up on something? I think we can actually trust this girl," Max yelled. A single tear rolled down her now pink cheeks. I wiped it away with my thumb.

"True." I sighed, looking straight into her big brown eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm always paranoid. I don't want anything to happen to us…to you." I wrapped her into a hug, much to both of our surprises. I kissed the top of her head, the sent of 'i-haven't-taken-a-shower-so-i-will-soon-hopefully' made me laugh a little. "Come on – let's go back inside."

"Okay." She slipped her hand into mind as we made our way back into the huge house.

"Hey guys! Wow, it's already 4. Hey, do you guys wanna crash here tonight? My parents are outa town and my sister is at a friend's house. And technically, I'm supposed to be at his house, but we snuck out," rambled D'anette.

"Sure. How many free beds do you have?" Max asked, clearly enjoying this bed idea.

"Four. Two upstairs and two down here. Colin's gonna crash here also, so guys, divide up!" D'anette, I think, has a talking issue, just like Nudge. We split up; Angel with Nudge, Gazzy with Iggy, and Max with me.

"Okay, Ariel and Harmony – you girls can have the guest room. James and Cole can get the pull out, which I'll show you in a sec. Max and Max," She burst out laughing. Haha, so funny. "You guys can get the master bedroom. And don't worry – all the sheets in every room are clean. My parents and sister are germaphobes," D'anette stated, walking over to the couch in the living room. She turned around to Colin. "Dude – coffee table." Colin just walked over to the little brown table and grabbed the end of it. D'anette grabbed the other side and they lifted it. They moved it against the wall.

"Well, I guess we can't watch movies on the projector tonight," Colin said, disappointment dripping off every word.

"Yeah we can. The bed just can't be pulled out," D'anette pointed out. She walked over to the couch and took off all the cushions, setting them aside and pulled out – literally – a bed. It was folded, but none the less, a bed. "That's for James and Cole. As for Ariel and Harmony, follow me." She made her way around the bed and into the kitchen. Angel and Nudge followed her, almost excited about a 'sleep-over'. Max and I trailed behind them, to make sure we knew where everyone was in case of an emergency. Right near the den, there was a small hallway with two doors on either sides. In the room to the left was a room with a queen sized bed in the middle of the room. On the right was a fully furnished bathroom. Complete with towels and everything.

"Come on, follow me, you guys get the biggest room bedroom," D'anette yelled, running past us and making a hand motion of 'follow me'.

We followed her up the stairs, where she stopped and pointed to her left. "That's my room. Colin and I will be there. You two get that room down there." She pointed to the right. "Come on, I'll show you your bathroom." She opened the door and turned to her right. "Here's the bathroom. You guys are welcome to take a shower. Towels and such are under the sink." And she trotted off, down the stairs.

**A/N: see, told ya it was short. And sorry if the argument was a bit weird…**

**The next chappie is long, and I'm not even half way done typing it, so that's probably what I'm going to be doing today.**

**As for how much I have written, I have written about two or three pages (front is one, back is two) for chapter 28, I think, so it may be a while between chappie 27 and 28. just a little forwarding.**

**Run Away it's…**

**rainxface**


	20. 27, loong

**A/N: GAH! Its finally here! The 27****th**** chapter!!! Hahaha! Just a forward, there are many implications in this chappie, but nothing really happens. For those of you who didn't understand that, you need to seek some help. This is a long chapter, faxness all through it. And a bit of skin is shown…not in a dirty way!**

**But on with the chappie!**

**Disclaimer: wow, I don't own. I haven't said that in a while…oops. You know that I'm a girl that is seriously in need of a relationship because of how much she dreams of Fang being her's.**

**Chapter 27**

Max took a shower first, then me. I would have to agree with Max about hot showers. They are amazing. I quickly changed and walked back out to the actual bedroom. I saw Max lying on the bed, her eyes closed with her head nodding to the beat of a song I couldn't recognize.

"Hello," I said, waking Max from her music.

"Hey, have a good shower?" She yawned and looked at the clock. 5:30 pm. Not even that late.

"Yeah. You tired enough to sleep now?"

"Probably not." She smiled and I sat down next to where she was laying. "But look. I can access so much music through the TV." She clicked a few buttons on a remote next to her, and suddenly we were listening to "Do You Remember" by The Summer Obsession.

"Cool. Have you looked at all the music yet?"

"Heck no! There must be over a million files! But, it's basically alphabetized by bands or artists." Max looked proud of herself, and I couldn't help but to laugh at her cheeseyness.

"What!?" she exclaimed, sitting up right on the bed now.

"Nothing," I replied, kissing her.

"I'm hungry," said a voice from what seemed like D'anette's room. We broke apart and walked to D'anette's room, whose door was wide open.

"Is someone hungry?" Max asked before her eyes reached D'anette. Who was in a bra and very short shorts. I immediately looked away, as did Max.

"Sorry. I am very …open…about what and how much I wear," D'anette explained, pulling a large t-shirt over her head. I looked at her shirt (it was black, so it caught my attention), and it read, "Sarcasm. Just one of the services I offer." That would so fit Max.

"Hey, Max. Her shirt," I whispered. She quickly read it and silently laughed to herself.

"So, you guys hungry?" D'anette asked. I shrugged and Max nodded. "Come on. I can fix something really quickly." She walked out the door, Colin close behind, followed by Max and me.

Once we were downstairs, we realized the others were in the din, discussing something about squirrels.

"Hey, who wants food?" D'anette asked, opening up the door to the refrigerator. Yes's and nods were made by everyone.

"Just to let you know, we have a huge appetite," Max warned D'anette. D'anetter merely smiled.

"Don't worry. We have food to last us about ten lifetimes. We should be good." She pulled out several containers of pre-made food and walked over to a door. It was a pantry, which she left open, only grabbing a can of beans and a few Smarties. "My personal favorite." She grabbed a pot from below the counter top and read the back of the can. She started twisting and pushing knobs and buttons on the oven.

All six of us looked at the food in the containers. We were seriously stunned at the sight. There was food to last about ten or _twenty_ lifetimes. Anything you wanted eat, she had. If you wanted waffles, they were in the freezer. You want tri-tip? Refrigerator. Pop-Tarts? Pantry. Chicken nuggets in the shape of dinosaurs? Outside freezer. It was seriously Heaven for us.

An hour and a half later, I finished basically six normal human meals. Max had five meals. We had eaten basically a third of D'anette's food supply. And guess what D'anette did. She shrugged it off. She _shrugged _it off! Who does that?

Anyway, after out feast, D'anette had run up stairs and then back down to us. She had the game Scrabble in her hands. Ha. Like any of us could actually spell worth shit!

"You'll win," Max said as D'anette was setting up the game.

"No, actually, I always loose at this fame – even when I play against my computer set to the easiest level!" she responded. Colin smirked behind her. That dude was cool – he never got in the way, and he just stood back, watching everything going on. And, what is cooler than a guy that smirks at the girl he _clearly_ loves? Well, besides me, of course. But, apparently, Colin.

"You guys don't stand a chance against me," came the calm yet almost conceited voice of Colin. Okay, this dude is on my 'Cool List'. He is beyond he's age.

"Jerk," D'anette muttered. Dude – it's like watching Max and me if we were normal and three years younger. Scary.

"Come on, let's get the others as she sets all of it up," said Max, almost ordering me. We walked into the kitchen, finding Iggy and Nudge. It looked like Iggy was trying to teach Nudge to cook – and along the way, flirting.

"Ahem," I cleared my throat, making the two spring apart their faces, which were merely three inches apart.

They were blushing mildly, and I smirked.

"D'anette is setting up Scrabble. I think we could play teams," Max informed the two. Cool. We could be teams: Max and me, Iggy and Nudge, Angel and Gasman, and D'anette and Colin. Works out perfectly.

"Okay," Nudge and Iggy said in simultaneously.

"Do you know where Ange and Gaz are?" Max asked us all.

"Nope," Iggy said, shaking his head.

"I think they went up to that awesomely huge room! But, I wouldn't be too sure. I mean, I was done here with Iggy learning to cook so I really mmphm," Iggy stuck his hand over her mouth, shutting her up almost immediately.

"Thanks," Max said to Iggy. We left the room, Iggy and Nudge walking to the dining room. We went up to the 'Bonus Room', as I recall D'anette told us. Angel and Gazzy were playing with what could only be guessed to be Tinker Toys. They didn't have a big mess – only a big contraption of some sorts in the middle of the room. Max and I just stood there in the doorway, awestruck.

"Yes, Max?" Angel asked sweetly.

"Oh, um, we're playing Scrabble downstairs, wanna play without mind control or reading?" Max whispered. She was very strict about Angel's power use. Angel sat there on the floor for a while, thinking.

"Okay, Gazzy's on my team!" Angel declared, getting up and started putting away the monstrous machine.

Max smiled and nodded. We turned around to make our way downstairs, but I suddenly pinned her against the hallway wall. I made sure that Gaz and Angel weren't looking and kissed Max. God, her sweet lips against mine had enough energy to power me to live for a million years without food or water – just her tender kiss.

Okay, so maybe I was exaggerating a bit, but I wouldn't doubt it.

We broke apart a few minutes later, due to a little girl with blond, curly hair and sky blue eyes giggling like there was no other day. Max smiled, and I let her free, knowing she was mine after the word game.

We walked down the stairs, our hands intertwined. We took our seats as the table next to each other, Max on my right, our hands still locked together.

D'anette went through all the details of how to play then passed us our tiles. She and Colin were first. They whispered to each other behind hands, pointing to a couple of tiles every now and then. Finally, they sat down a few pieces, spelling out "BLOOD". Jeez, talk about mood starter.

Then it was Max and mine's turn. We looked at each other, already knowing what to set down. She held a slight smirk dancing across her lips. She grabbed four of our seven tiles and set them falling down from the D. By the time the last letter was in place, Max was full out laughing. I looked at the board, a satisfied grin playing on my face. Everyone just stared.

So far, the board read BLOOD – DEATH.

My choice. Just came to mind when they lay down BLOOD.

The game continued for about two hours, mainly because we took forever to figure out if what we were spelling was an actual word or not. Or spelt correct. Needless to say, D'anette and Colin kicked our asses. And no other words were as dark as the first two.

But after the game, it was about 9, so we decided to go and get some nice sleep (for once). We said our "Good nights" to the younger ones and Iggy, who was actually really tired. It wasn't even that long of a day!

Max and I ran up the stairs, stopping at D'anette's room as she called to us. We looked in her room, half expecting to see her half dressed, remembering the previous experience. She was dressed, only in pajamas that I barely considered pajamas. Booty shorts and a tank top that was too small.

"Hey, my parents and sister, truth be told, are gone for a month – so basically, that's how they think I'm at my other friend's house. So, stay here for a month if you need to," she explained. Talk about a long time to be at a friend's house. At that point, I would just call it moving in.

"Thanks," Max said. "Are you staying here that long, Colin?"

"Probably going home every once in a while. My parents would freak if I just left for one month," he replied. I nodded and wrapped my arms around Max's waist.

"Good night," Max said, her eyes drooping a little.

"'Night. And sorry if you hear, like, people screaming and singing. My music might be a little loud," D'anette yawned.

I nodded again, and Max and I made our way to 'our' room. I closed the door behind us and turned on the light. Surely enough, ten seconds later, loud screaming music came from D'anette's room. I smiled. She had good music tastes.

I crawled into the bed, a soft mattress making me sleepier than what I was already. Max crawled to the other side of the bed. I kissed her lightly on the lips, wrapping my arm around her waist.

"Good night, Fang," she barely mumbled.

"Good night, my gorgeous Max." We fell asleep sometime later, smiles plastered on our faces.

**A/N: okay. That was long for me. Next chappie isn't that long, so it shouldn't take me that long to type up. But its up for you to decide when I post it. Just give me five reviews!!!!**

**today is my last day of summer vacation, so i will be taking a bit longer to actually post stuff up, sorry. I will try to post as quickly as i can because i know that there are some of you out there taht will actually hunt me down and force me to write the story. So i will be posting as quick as i can. Luckily, i spend time at school writing this story, so its a lot easier to get stuff to type. But I WILL POST AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE!!!!**

**Oh, and I think I will be giving some character explanation thingies later…it will help you, I assure you.**

**Run away its,**

**rainxface**


	21. 28 and 29 but still short

**A/N: okay, so there are two chappies here, both really short…sorry. But the next chappie should come a little later, seeing as how (stupid) school is blocking me from writing. And some how I feel like I can't write in math class. Bleah.**

**Disclaimer: okay, don't own. Unless its me or Colin. Haha! I own a kid that I can turn into a Fang really easily!!!**

**Colin: you don't own me!**

**ME: shut up, yes I do!**

**Colin: no you don't.**

**ME: yes I do. Now shut up before I make your other shin bleed!**

**Colin: …**

**Chapter 28**

I woke up early the next morning. No one else was awake – that I could tell. I could still hear the screaming of D'anette's music a few rooms down.

Who was this girl? Why did Max trust her so much? How did she know the story? There was something about that girl that through her off. Something made me think she was different. Hmm…I would have to talk to her about that.

A little while later, Max woke up, her eyes still closed, but her body tensed. I looked at the clock: 7:27 a.m. Not a bad time.

"Good morning, Beauty," I whispered in her ear. One of her eyes opened.

"Good mor'ng, Fangsy," she yawned. I smiled, brushing some her of her loose hair behind her ear. "Can I stay in bed?"

I chuckled. "Sure. After I eat my breakfast, I'll let Ig know he's in charge." She smiled at my idea and nodded her head.

"That sounds good," she mumbled, crawling down beneath the bed covers. She sighed and closed her eyes. She was trying to relax – I could tell.

"But if you stay in bed, you don't get any breakfast," I said. She shot up suddenly.

"I want breakfast. I'll get out of bed!" she exclaimed quietly.

"Fatty. All you want is food," I teased.

"Shut up. Food is wonderful," Max responded groggily.

I chuckled again. "Come on. Food is downstairs. And you can only get it if you get up and get it yourself. I won't get it for you."

"Fine." She swung her legs from under the covers to sitting on the edge of the bed. Then fell back on the bed.

"Get up. Get up, get up," I repeated. Slowly and not so steadily, she got up and made her way downstairs.

"This is stupid. Fang, carry me," Max whined, halfway down the stairs. I sighed and rolled my eyes. _This is Max after she sleeps on an actual bed at night._

"You can make it. Trust me," I told her, slightly pushing her down some of the steps.

"I trust you enough that you can carry me," she continued. Jeez, someone needy and tired?

"Four more steps, Max," I groaned. Sheesh, she needs to learn how to walk for herself.

She sighed and walked the last few stairs. "Now will you carry me? I took the last four steps."

Damn, that girl never gives up. Seriously, never let Max sleep on an actual bed with a full night's sleep. She will turn needy!

"Fine. Piggy-back ride." I crouched down a little, letting her jump up on my back. Luckily, the kitchen was only about twenty feet from where we were. Once in the kitchen, I lightly let her down on the couch in the combined din.

"Morning, Ig," I grumbled. I am not a morning person.

"Morning, Ig," Max copied. Neither was Max.

"Morning guys," Iggy replied. "Bacon?" He pointed to the stove, bacon frying in a pan.

"Sure," I said. Great morning conversations. He handed me two plates, both with bacon, sausage, eggs and toast.

"Get your food, Max. We're eating in here." I pointed to the kitchen island. She got up almost immediately and shoved food into her mouth. Five minutes later, we were walking back up to 'our' room to get changed. As soon as we changed into our clean clothes (D'anette did our laundry the day before…weird), we walked down to D'anette's room to ask about that day's schedule.

Her door was cracked open a bit, so we opened it all the way…

To find D'anette and Colin making out. Not surprising, but what did surprise me was that they both had their shirts off. At age 12! D'anette was wearing a bra, but still. Geez. I immediately adverted my eyes.

Max noticed too, and quickly shut the door. She faced me, eyes wide. My eyes were also wide. _So, we now know _their_ relationship status._

I walked back into 'our' room and sat down on the bed. Max quickly followed, sitting right next to me, smiling. I couldn't help it – I smiled back. Hell, I started _laughing_. She joined in laughing with me.

Soon there after, our laughter gave our and Max leaned against me. I kissed the top of her head and said,

"That was both awkward and funny at the same time." Max giggled.

"Think they saw us?" Max asked, looking up at me.

"Probably heard us," I shrugged. She cracked a smile.

"Let's go check on them, see if they finished," Max suggested. I didn't see anything wrong with that, so we headed back down the hallway to D'anette's room. We slowly and slightly opened up D'anette's door. D'anette and Colin were fully clothed, whispering into each other's ears. There were whispering so low that neither of us could pick up on what they were saying. And to add to the list, they were also reading each other's expression.

**Chapter 29**

"So, do you think they'll figure it out?" D'anette barely whispered to Colin.

He shook his head. "They shouldn't. How could they figure it out? You've only told me and Heidi," he said back, barely audible for even D'anette. "Besides, can't you see anything?"

D'anette shook her head. "No. Like, I can only get a few voices here and there. They mainly say, 'I'm hungry' or 'Check flock, check flock'. It's really weird and hard and painful. But sometimes I see Harmony flying and then getting shot. And one time it was Maximillian that was shot. They weren't fatal shots, but a gunshot is still really painful," she recalled. "And they go by different names. Like, only Max goes by her actual name."

"What do you mean? Like, they gave us fake names?" Colin asked, a confused look over his whole face.

She nodded. "Yeah, basically. Like, I can only pick up on two names other than Max. Harmony is actually named Nudge. Quite interesting. And Maximillian is really Fang." Colin nodded, his face clearing from confusion. "And their names aren't usual names like ours. It's almost as if they picked out their names when their vocabulary wasn't finished."

_Yeah, and D'anette would know about those kinds of things – she's always acing those kinds of tests,_ Colin thought sarcastically.

"Okay. Anything else you picked up from them? We need ever little detail that we can get," he advised. "We need to know who and what we're dealing with here."

"Well, I guess the only way to get them to trust me is to let them," D'anette sighed, "know everything." D'anette stood up. Colin followed.

"No, D'anette. That's practically suicide or –"

"Oh, and that worked for me before," D'anette retorted sarcastically.

"D'anette – last year has nothing to do with now. Pretend like that never happened. Because in all truths, nothing did happen except yelling and threats." He looked at her sorrowfully in the eyes. "Please – just forget about that. For me. For you. For us."

A single tear ran down D'anette's cheek. Colin caught it, making her look up at him. She nodded slowly. Then she brought him into a hug. "I will, Colin. I will. I promise," she swore into his shoulder.

"Come on – I'm hungry," he said, bringing her back to look at him in the eyes. She smiled. But as soon as it came, it fell. "What?"

"Max!" Anger was controlling her voice and actions. She stomped over to the slightly open door, swinging it hard enough to almost rip it off the hinges.

"Heh, heh…oops?" Max said, standing up straighter.

**AN: okay…so what's going on here??? Haha! I know!!! Do you? Haha.**

**And no, D'anette is not emo. She just has…some…issues/problems with life.**

**oh, and i'm jsut going to be posting when i can...but don't stop reviewing!!! i love reviews!! they can give me wonderful wonderful wonderful ideas (yes i know i put wonderful three times).**

**rainxface**

5


	22. 30, really short

**A/N: okay, short chappie, but next one will be good and long and FAXY! Ha-ah!**

**Disclaimer: don't own Max Ride or To Write Love On Her Arms. That'd be cool if I even owned a shirt from them, though… sigh.**

**Chapter 30**

"Oops is right," D'anette boomed at us. Cr-rap. But how did she know we were there? The door crack was even noticeable and we were extremely quiet.

"How did you see us?" I asked after realizing that Max was in shock. D'anette's face went into immediate panic mode. Her eyes were wide and she kept opening and closing her mouth. Then Colin came up behind her.

"Tell them. If that's what need, then tell them," he whispered in her ear. _The only way? What the hell?_ Okay, what is that boy smokin'?

D'anette sighed and lowered her head so she was looking at her bare feet. "I saw it. I saw you guys outside, like from the future. I'm clairvoyant. And pretty powerful one, at that," she said. Okay, so we have someone that can see the future with us. "And, not just that – I can pick up on memories and things from other people." She kept her head low, not wanting to make eye contact.

"So you're saying you can see the past and the future?" Max clarified.

"Yeah, but I don't like to," D'anette raised her head a little so she was now staring at my shirt. Okay, she seemed really into my shirt. So my shirt said 'To Write Love on Her Arms'. What? They're for a great cause. She suddenly smiled to herself.

"Prove it. Please," Max incouraged.

"A few weeks ago…you…um…got shot in your arm," she mumbled, still staring at my shirt. Okay, this girl is crazy.

"Wow, so you really are," I breathed. She didn't hear.

"You said you didn't like to look into the future. Why?" Max asked.

"Because it takes a lot of fun out of surprises, and I really can't control it. I know how to block it out but not how to see it. And I'm fine with it being that way," she explained. Man, what is with this girl and my shirt? She won't stop staring at it. "But, enough about that. What're you two here for? If you're hungry, just go and take food – it's not like I pay for it." She laughed.

"No, we were wondering what was going to be going on today," Max simply stated.

"Oh, well, we have band practice today, so my friends Mitch and Pat are coming over," D'anette said, finally breaking her gaze from my shirt.

"Don't worry – they're seriously dumber than rocks," Colin piped up. "They'll just think you guys are our extended family." Max and I nodded.

"Okay, what time will that be about?" Max inquired.

"I don't know. Probably about noon to around seven or eight. They usually stay for dinner," D'anette decided. "I should probably call them soon." She shrugged.

"Okay, thanks." Max and I turned to go back to 'our' room, but were stopped by D'anette yelling, "Wait!" We turned around to face her.

"I should tell you – I know that your name is Fang and that Harmony is actually Nudge. So, you really don't have to hide it," she said, her eyes closed.

"Okay. Good. Cause there was no way I was going to call him Max any longer," Max sighed. I playfully hit the side of her arm, slightly smiling. She smiled back and laughed.

We were walking back to our room when I thought I heard Colin's voice say, "You just committed suicide."

**A/N: okay, for those not in the know, go to twloha . com and read the STORY. It is amazing! And for an amazing cause!!!**

**Next Chappie is coming soon (I hope), so be PREPaRED!**

**And I have no clue as to what is going through my mind right now. Great.**

**Run Away it's,**

**rainxface**


	23. 31, loong yay!

**A/N: okay, sorry it took so long to update!!! I just have soo much Homework now that school is in. but I am still writing whenever I can (lunch time, math class, science class, and after school). So I have quite a bit to type up!!!!**

**Chapter 31**

For the next four hours, Max and I were in 'our' room, basically in non-stop making out. Yeah, making out for four hours. Okay – it wasn't my fault she tasted sweet and addictive. Seriously. That and she was an amazing kisser.

I had her pinned underneath me, trailing a line of kisses up and down her neck, when the doorbell rang. I stopped and gave Max a confused glance. She returned it, but then changing it to a "duh" expression.

"Band practice," she said in a "duh" tone to match her face. Oh, yeah. D'anette was in a band. And they had practice today. The other members must be showing up, however many of them there were – I really didn't pay attention.

We quickly got up, fixed our hair (don't ask), and made our way downstairs. D'anette and Colin were already at the door, talking to whoever was on the opposite side. Colin must have noticed us because he nudged D'anette's side and nodded his head in our direction. I couldn't hear what D'anette was saying because my mind was still in the other room.

Suddenly, two other guys were in the house, both of them looking D'anette's age. They both had brown hair – everyone in the band did, apparently – but one had darker brown hair.

"Okay, so we have some guests over," D'anette spoke louder, sort of pointing to Max and me, halfway down the stairs. "But they won't bug us or anything." _No, of course we'll bug you guys so much that your heads explode_, I thought to myself. Max nodded. Then we walked all the way down stairs, and stood facing the other boys. "Guys, Patrick and Mitchel." She pointed to each boy, Mitchel being the one with darker brown hair. "This is Max and Max." She laughed again. Geez, she'll laugh at anything.

"Hi," Max said, shaking Mitchel's hand. I noticed he was eyeing Max, so I wrapped my arm around her waist. He quickly looked at D'anette. _That's right, bucko._

"Well, we'll be in the garage if you need anything or if you want to listen," D'anette said with all smiles, walking to the kitchen and turning to the garage. The boys followed. Once they were out of sight, I looked down at Max with a 'what-do-you-want-to-do-now' expression.

She thought for a moment. "Let's listen to some of what they got. And then we can find something else to do," she decided, her eyes deep in mine.

"Okay," I agreed. Hey, listen to music while you're bored! It's a great idea!

We walked into the garage, expecting to be kicked out. Instead, the four of them looked like they were expecting us. O-kay.

"Welcome! This is rehearsal of our band, Plastic Face," D'anette greeted, kind of catching me off guard. Max nodded with a smile as if saying 'okay-love-the-name'. We found a spot in the garage to sit down and not be in their way. I wrapped my arms around Max while the band was talking about which song to play. Finally, the came out of a huddle, smiles on their faces.

"This one is called 'Its Funny How Girls are Always the Problem for Me'," D'anette announced into the microphone. _I didn't know song titles could be so long._ Suddenly, the drums and bass were blaring. A few measures into the song, the two guitars were added in along with the vocals.

_Tick tock, i make time fly_

_dont ask, i don't know how or why_

_one second, ur here, now ur there_

_away and listenin to us, watchin her_

_she rules guys like nothing_

_everyone of them coming_

_attracting the worst for us_

_it could be better if you just..._

_watch your step!_

_you're out of line!_

_nothing you say can get you outa this_

_you've been gone!_

_for way too long!_

_making the days seem like years_

_Come back later, when you're done_

_talking nonstop about someone_

_she makes us scream and fight_

_watching us hit and bite_

_so..._

_watch your step!_

_you're out of line!_

_nothing you say can get you outa this_

_you've been gone!_

_for way too long!_

_making the days seem like years_

_follow me now_

_start a riot now_

_we'll party forever_

_its only getting better_

_do what you want_

_you can't be called a (gasp)_

_ignore the remarks_

_just walk your walk_

_watch your step!_

_you're out of line!_

_nothing you say can get you outa this_

_you've been gone!_

_for way too long!_

_making the days seem like years_

_W-watch your step!_

_you're out of line!_

_nothing you say can get you outa this_

_you've been gone!_

_for way too long!_

_making the days seem like years_

All I can say: Wow. The drums (Colin) kept temp, the bass (Patrick) and guitars (Mitch and D'anette) all blended to a nice tune, and D'anette's vocals just topped it off. They were seriously good. And for being younger than 15. Wow.

I looked at Max – she was just as shocked as I was. Then I fixed my gaze to the band, all of them smiling.

"That was really, extremely amazing," Max muttered, still in shock. Okay – Max was beyond amazed; she never says anything like that.

"Thanks," D'anette said, placing her guitar on a stand. "I wrote the lyrics, but the guys really helped on the melody and such. It was very much a group effort." She smiled and grabbed a water bottle.

"Do you guys do cover songs?" I asked. Okay, I had to know. Really. I just like to compare the original song to the cover song sometimes.

"Yeah, of course. Although, it's mainly Paramore music," Patrick replied, also drinking some water.

"Every once in a while we'll play some My Chemical Romance or Queen –"

"FREDDIE MERCURY LIVES!" shouted D'anette. **(yes, I actually do yell that out. It is true! Freddie mercury isn't dead! He's still out there, somewhere!)**

"As I was saying," Mitch continued, "we play some other bands. Mainly bands that D'anette is in love with."

"Well, can we hear some of it?" pushed Max. Of course she wanted to hear more – they were amazing without any of the digital work.

"Sure. Um, let's play 'My Heart'," she decided, grabbing her guitar and setting down her water. Colin counted them in, and immediately a collective mesh of guitars and bass and drums filled our ears. Slowly, it gave way to a calmer tone, and D'anette's voice joined in.

Stay with me, this is what I need, please?

Sing us a song and we'll sing it back to you  
We could sing our own but what would it be without you?

I am nothing now and it's been so long  
Since I've heard the sound, the sound of my only hope

This time I will be listening.

Sing us a song and we'll sing it back to you  
We could sing our own but what would it be without you?

This heart, it beats, beats for only you  
This heart, it beats, beats for only you

This heart, it beats, beats for only you  
My heart is yours

This heart, it beats, beats for only you  
My heart is yours  
(My heart, it beats for you)

This heart, it beats, beats for only you (It beats, beats for only you)  
My heart is yours (My heart is yours)

This heart, it beats, beats for only you (Please don't go now, please don't fade away)  
My heart, my heart is yours (Please don't go now, please don't fade away)

My response: That is my type of music. Near the end of the song, it started into screamo. If there's anything/anyone to relax me other than Max, it was screamo music.

Again, both Max and I were dumbfounded. This time, her jaw was completely dropped. And if it weren't for me not showing emotion, mine would be, too. But, again, I didn't like to show emotion. Instead, I slightly raised my eyebrows.

"Um, okay. I guess I'll say some background info while you two recover," D'anette said, resting her guitar again.

* * *

**okay, so it might be a while before i update, and i apologize. i keep on meaning to type it up, but i keep on getting tons and tons of algebra homework (i hate her). but don't worry, as i've said, i'm still writing as much as i can.**

**please review for love!!!**

**Run Away it's,**

**rainxface**


	24. 32 shorty

**A/N: Okay, sorry it like took a while to update. But, here it is!!!!!!! Its short though…sorry. Ooh! Look! It's raining!!!!!!! I love rain (as you can tell by pen name).**

**Disclaimer: blah blah blah, I don't own MR. but I own the band and the members.**

**Colin: no you don't!**

**ME: yes I do. Now go back to playing your drums, lover boy!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 32**

"Okay, so I'll start with me," D'anette pulled up a chair and sat in front of us. "I started asking my mother for guitar lessons when I was in about second or third grade. She finally gave in and I started lessons in fifth grade. That was about a year and a half ago. And I have never taken a singing lesson in my life – I refuse to. Like, I'll take the school choir, and end up for basically every solo there is, but I only take about one a year." She took a breath. She had said all that in one breath. Geez, this is seriously worse than Nudge!

"On bass, we have Patrick. I've known him since he was in third grade, but he's one year older than me. He's been taking bass lessons for about five years now.

"Mitch is the second, or background, guitar. He's been taking lessons for only six months, but he's still learning. I've known him since first grade. And I used to hate his guts, but now he's one of my best friends.

"And finally, on drums we have Colin. He's been taking lessons for almost four years now. I've known him since first grade – and he's always been either my best friend or my protector. He's always looking out for me, and I could seriously pour my heart out to him, and he would completely understand." She barely took any breaths. Holy crap, this girl could talk forever.

"Oh, and I write all the lyrics, and sometimes Colin helps," she added in. "And we all came up with the band name – basically we all said a stereotype, and somehow we ended up agreeing to 'Scene'. Then agreeing to Plastic Face. I guess we're all just crazy."

"When do you guys start the band? Like not to long ago, right?" Max asked, finally recovering from the shock of amazement.

"About a year and a half ago. Mitch came in a little later. But it's good he's here – no matter how much of a grudge he holds against Pat. Right?" D'anette said.

"Right," Mitch mumbled, sort of sulking. Wow, so two people in the band don't even like each other. By the way it looked, everyone were just dandy with each other.

"So, we really didn't mean to interrupt your session. We'll go now," Max said politely, standing up.

"Oh, you didn't interrupt – in fact, this was the best practice – no one yelled at us for playing too loud," Colin said, getting up from behind the drums.

"Yeah, usually your neighbors have called the cops by now!" Pat exclaimed.

"Oh, my neighbors moved out. I think we drove them out of the city. Ha," D'anette scoffed.

"No way! That's awesome!" Mitch yelled.

"Yep. The house is going for sale soon," she continued. "It's really cool. I mean, sure, I've never had a neighbor live there for more than a year, but still – those neighbors sucked, big time."

"Wow, so you're just waiting for the next set of 'annoying' neighbors to come?" Max asked.

"Yeah." D'anette sighed. "Okay, I'll let you guys go. Go do what you want to do except blowing things up." Max and I exchanged glances saying, '_Iggy_'.

"Okay. See you guys later," Max waved, opening up the garage door. I nodded in their direction. They all said their goodbyes and we walked into the kitchen. There, we saw Nudge and Iggy…

…making out…

…with Nudge pinned against the refrigerator.

I looked down at Max, who was silently laughing and turning pink at the same time. She couldn't hold it in any longer – she bursted out laughing. I couldn't help but to join her laughing. Which, apparently the two were so into their make out session that they didn't even hear our loud laughing.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, they heard us – laughing our asses off. They were both really bright red.

"Er…how-how long have you two been standing there?" Iggy stuttered. He was embarrassed – _very_ embarrassed.

"A few minutes," Max responded between fits of laughter. "Sorry, we really didn't mean to intrude on you guys. We were just passing by."

"O-okay," Nudge mumbled. Okay, she was even more embarrassed. I snickered to myself. Somehow knowing what I was thinking, Max lightly hit my arm.

"We'll be going now," she said, pulling me towards the stairs.

"Don't get carried away, Ig." I earned myself a whack upside the head for that comment.

**A/N: well, that's the chappie. Oh, look, it stopped raining!!!! Yay!!!! I'm working on the next chappie!!!!!! **

**Love y'all lots!**

**rainxface**


	25. 33 average sized, I guess

**YO! Sorry it took, like, forever. But, I guess sitting in a car for an hour with your laptop and paper in front of you reminds you to do some updating! Whoot! Thanks G4B13 and Insane Winged Girl for reviewing for basically EVERY chapter!!! You two are amazing and I send you guys my love!**

**And now, ON WITH THE SHOW (after this short message)!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Disclaimer: I think these are stupid. We all know that we don't own the characters and stuff… Get over it!**

I sat on the bed, Max leaning on my chest. I was tracing light circles between her wings, the cool breeze coming from the window relaxing us both. We listened to the band downstairs, hearing how good they were at such a young age. I kissed the top of Max's head.

I couldn't help but to hear the words "house going for sale" echoing in my mind. Maybe we could take a break from all the running and settle down in a house. Maybe even the one next door. Sure, it was in a huge neighborhood, but we could blend. I mean, it might seem weird at first, but it could work. We could destroy the School and live here, possibly even go to a _real _school. Who knows!? Anything is possible for mutant bird kids, really. Anything is possible, really.

"What're you thinking, Fang?" Max asked suddenly.

"Maybe we could move in next door and Live a normal life, or as normal as we could. Maybe go to school, make some friends. I don't know," I answered truthfully. Max looked up at me with a 'what-the-h-is-going-on-with-you' look. I shrugged. "I just think we could all use some time off from running and fighting. The younger ones deserve to live somewhere – not just in trees and subway tunnels and caves."

"Yeah, but what about the School?" she questioned.

"We bomb 'em. They fucked up our lives, so we fuck up their's," I told her. I guess she felt the same way because she didn't even bother to 'correct' my language. She stayed quiet for a while – just thinking, probably.

"How about we buy the house, bomb the hell out of the School, go to an actual school and try to be normal," she said a few minutes later.

"Sounds great." I kissed her on the lips gently, but it soon turned into a passionate make-out session.

* * *

"Dinner time!" D'anette hollered up to us. We quickly fixed our hair, seeing as how messed up it go. I kissed her again on the lips, then opened up the door. As usual, our hands were locked together, and nothing could separate up.

We walked downstairs, and immediately were hit with the aroma of chicken. Cooked chicken. Homemade chicken. And macaroni and cheese. And peas. Oh, man, this is going to be a wonderful dinner.

"Mmm. Smells delicious! Who's the chef? Iggy?" Max asked, her eyes closed, taking in all the smells.

"And D'anette and Nudge," he replied, handing Max a plate of macaroni and cheese and peas. "Turns out, D'anette knows how to use the barbeque. And I helped Nudge of the macaroni and cheese and peas. I barely did anything."

Suddenly, D'anette burst through the screen doors from the backyard, holding a block of wood (probably a cutting board) and 5 well-cooked chickens on top.

"I made sure that I had a lot. I mean, feeding four is my usual, but 10? Geez. That's a lot," she ranted, starting to cut the chicken in parts. "I mean, timing and temperatures and hands. It takes a lot out of one girl. Especially one _my _age. I don't think not one of the girls at school have cooked for anyone, let alone ten people! I swear, sometimes I already feel like a mom, although I've never been married. But still –" Colin finally turned her around so she was facing him, and he kissed her. Well, whatever works.

Then, Angel, Gazzy, Patrick, and Mitch all appeared in the kitchen. No joke, I just blinked and then everyone was there. Whatever. I must have closed my eyes for a while then.

"Oh, Jesus," said Patrick, once he saw D'anette and Colin.

"Well, there goes all my chances with her," Mitch mumbled, obviously disappointed. Okay, so apparently they didn't know about the two.

I heard giggles, so I looked over at Angel. She was giggling, whereas her brother had a disgusted look upon his face.

I looked back at Colin and D'anette, who had separated.

"Well, will you shut up now?" he whispered in her ear. She nodded her bright-smiling face and turned back to cutting the chicken. Max and I went and sat on the couch, listening to the one coming conversations.

"Since when?" Patrick asked. I could hear the confusion in her voice. Colin and D'anette stayed quiet, D'anette's knife still hitting the wooden block. "Geez. And incase you didn't know, I did know that you guys were always flirting. I just didn't know how far it went." _Oh, trust me – you __**don't**__ know how far they go_, I thought, remembering that morning.

"Yeah, don't go too far, man," Iggy commented, mocking me. "OW!" I heard someone whack him. I snickered to myself.

"Dinner's ready," D'anette called, obviously wanted the boys to settle down their hormones. She grabbed the cutting board (which had a perfect display of chicken parts upon it) and walked to the dining room. Iggy and Nudge followed her, each caring two huge pots of peas and macaroni and cheese. Everybody followed them.

While eating diner, Max and I thought it'd be a good idea if we told the flock what we wanted to do. But how to tell them – that was the trick. How to tell them without Mitch and Patrick getting suspicious. Okay, so not so much Mitch – he's the idiot, as we found out while trying to figure out how to serve everyone enough food. But, Patrick was a bit smarter – he could figure out a problem mentally within two minutes.

'_I could make Patrick go to the bathroom for a few minutes, and Mitch is, as you've said, an idiot,' _Angel sent me in my mind.

_Okay – go right ahead, and if Max gets mad at you, just tell her I told you to do so,_ I thought to her. A very long thought for me. Imagine if I actually said that.

"Please excuse me," Patrick said politely, setting down his plate and walked to the bathroom. Once I heard the door click, I looked at Max, as if to tell her to tell everyone our plans.

"Okay, Fang and I have decided that we're going to try and buy the house next door," she simply stated. "Courtesy of my bank card, we should have the house in less than a week."

"Cheers erupted from everyone. Okay, I'll admit, even to me, settling down seemed like a fine thing to do, especially after our lives.

"So, guys are moving in? Sha-weet!" exclaimed D'anette. Even Colin cracked a smile. "Going to school also? Cause that'd be awesome. I mean, we go to a private school and it's for all grades, K-12. So we'd all be going to the same school! And I'm sure we can manipulate our schedules so that we have as many classes together as possible! And we can all be in either woodshop or metalshop! I mean –"

"Eat yer chicken," Colin interrupted. Without hesitation, she stuck her drumstick in her mouth. He seemed to be able to control her, which got me to think that maybe he had some 'super' powers. Maybe.

"Yes, we are going to school, just to fill in our education. D'anette, your school sounds great. Perfect in fact. I think we'll go," Max said. More cheers erupted from the younger three. "But one question. Are there uniforms?"

"Hell, no! This school is strict on dress code, but no uniforms," Colin answered._ Dang it! Max looked good in the old uniforms, but I guess she can express herself better without uniforms._

"Well, it's settled – we go to the realtors tomorrow and buy it!" exclaimed Max. Everyone cheered, again, and even I cracked a smile. These kids haven't been this happy for the longest time.

**Haha! Now I have to finish up the next chappie! Which might be a while. Sorry. I effing HATE school. It's effing stupid. I already know all that I need to know. Ugh.**

**PEAcE!**

**rainxface**


	26. OC

**Hey guys!**

**Sorry I haven't been able to update lately! School and homework are driving me INSANE! So, while you're waiting for the next chappie (which happens to be WONDERFUL), here are the OC's descriptions!!!**

D'anette:

Age: 12

Height: 5'2"

Hair Color: brown, with blonde bangs

Eye Color: hazel, when she cries, they turn green

How she usually dresses: usually in black or red or purple t-shirt with skinny jeans. Loves to wear band tee's

Family: one sibling, 2 years older, and a mom and dad (not divorced)

Colin:

Age: 11 (a few months behind D'anette)

Height: 5'6"

Hair Color: caramel brown with natural light blonde highlights

Eye Color: blue

Usually dresses: jeans, and a t-shirt that has some smart-ass remark

Family: only child, parents not divorced

Mitchel:

Age: 12 (a few months ahead D'anette)

Height: 5'4"

Hair Color: dark brown

Eye Color: brown

Usually dresses: jeans, and a motor-cross t-shirt

Family: only child, parents not divorced

Patrick:

Age: 13

Height: 5'4"

Hair Color: reddish-brown

Eye Color: brown

Usually dresses: jeans and t-shirts

Family: only child, parents divorced, lives with dad

**There you go. I will have some more OC's, but I'll do their character profiles later. Just these are the OC's you know right now. YAY!**

**remember to review, cause they are love, and I'll try to respond. If i don't, its because i have lots and lots and lots of algebra homework (damn Ms. Kim). Love yas!**

**Happy almost Halloween,**

**rainxface**


	27. omg, 34 short sorry

**AN: sorry it took me for like ever to update. Stupid-butt school. It shouldn't be mandatory. Ugh.**

**Anyways. Sorry, it's a bit short…whoops.**

The next morning was spent looking for Max's bank card. Yes, we still had that, we just preferred _not_ to use it. So, therefore, we couldn't find it. Gr-reat.

Here the sarcasm there? Yep.

"Did you check your pockets?" I asked for the millionth time.

"Yes! I checked both pair. Do you remember what I did with it?" she returned.

"No – that was back in New York." I wasn't being harsh, just truthful. We looked in all of the flock's bags and such, but still in no luck. "Okay, did you movie it somewhere last night?"

"Last night…last night…last night…," she muttered, tapping her chin and sitting on the bed. "Hmm…"

--Five Minutes Later--

"My shoes!" Max exclaimed, jumping up and down while racing to grab her shoes. "I don't know why, but a few weeks ago, I put it in my shoe. I seriously don't know why." She set down a pair of tattered combat boots. She stuck her arm in one and pulled out the all magical Maximum Ride bank card.

"Okay," I responded, grabbing her card and placing it in my back pocket. "Ready to roll?"

"So, we're finding the realtor, giving them my card, making Angel make them forget about the paperwork, and moving in. Correct?" she reviewed.

I pulled a thumbs-up. "Awesome." I'm ready to quit running and settle down for a while, maybe get an education, no matter how horrible of an experience.

"We'll be back in an hour!" Max called from the front door. Max, Angel and I were ready to take action. This reminds me sort of like a –

_'Family?'_ Angel injected into my thought.

_Yeah, a family_.

'_I feel like a family.'_ Okay, I had to restrain myself from smiling.

"Fang? Why are you smiling?" Max asked quizzically. I was smiling? Oh, I guess I was.

"Family," I uttered. She had a 'confused-turned-whatever' look on her face, but shrugged it off. We all snapped open our wings and set off for our realtor.

We found her with ease – only about twenty minutes of flight. Next thing on the list, buying house and forget about paperwork

"Hello, we're interested in buying one of your houses," Max stated politely and officially. "The one next to the Navy Gold Course?"

"Oh, yes," our realtor, Jane Morrie, exclaimed. "The four bedroom, three bathroom one?"

"That'd be it," I said, lifting Angel so she rested on my left hip.

"Great! So what type of payment would you like to use?" Jane asked, still smiling widely enough to creep me out.

"Credit. And we don't need any of the paper work," Angel said, settling her gaze on Jane, her little girl voice not matching her dark glare.

"Okay; I'll run your card. And don't worry about the paperwork," she said in a dead monotone. Her eyes looked dull and no expression could be found upon her – obviously – botox-ed face. "We'll just pretend that you had it done already."

After that, she scanned our card in the back and returned with our card and a house key. She handed Max her card and me the key.

"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Ride! You now own the house!" Jane exclaimed, yet again. That woman really freaked me out.

_'Me, too,'_ thought Angel.

_Get out!_

_'Say that magic word!'_

_Now?_

_'No.'_

_Please?_

_'Okay!'_ Finally!

We walked out of the building, turned a few blocks and took off. Can't wait to have my ears bleed from the excitement.

**AN: okay, so it'll probably be about three weeks before I update cause im like too lazy, so like get over it. But don't worry, I'll try as soon as I can.**

**Oh, and reviews are love love love.**

**-rainxface-**


	28. 35 rather short

**AN: omg. I hate having homework. That and I also volunteer like everyday of my life. So, sorry about the long updates. I try to type up as much as I can!!!!**

"OMG! Only four rooms!? Well, that's okay. Angel and I can room together if you want. And you two can, too! Iggy and Gazzy can have their own rooms! Or maybe it could be Gazzy and Angel share since they're technically true siblings and I read once that a lot of siblings share a room. I wonder if D'anette and her sister ever shared a room? Probably. I wonder who moved out of the shared room or if one was kicked out of the room or…" I blocked Nudge out. The rant continued for a good five minutes, and I'm surprised I didn't explode or anyone shut her up.

"Did you set up the room pairings yet?" I asked Max once we escaped Nudge and everyone and made it to 'our' room. The one in D'anette's house.

"Yeah. Angel and Nudge, Gazzy and Ig, and we can have our own rooms," she planned out. Us? In separate rooms? I let my sadness show. "Don't worry – that doesn't mean that we have to inhabit both rooms at the same time. It could be like a storage room." I smiled.

"Do you wanna move what we have into the new house?" I asked her, kissing her temple and smiling huge.

"You mean ourselves and our packs to claim rooms?" she joked. I chuckled and nodded. "Okay, let's get the others. And maybe we can find some ear plugs so we don't go deaf from Nudge's excitement." She got up and walked to the kitchen, downstairs. I followed in suit.

Once downstairs, we found Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, Iggy, D'anette, and Colin talking amongst themselves. A few acknowledged Max and my presences, whereas the others continued with their conversations (not naming anyone really, but Nudge). After **(Nudge's)** chatter died down, Max rose her voice.

"Okay, flock. Grab yerselves and yer packs and claim a room next door, but you guys need to share – Angel with Nudge, Gazzy with Iggy," she stated.

"Iggy and I were-were sort of hoping to share," Nudge mumbled in a small voice. _What!?_ Well, I guess it makes sense. It's just like Max and me. I hoped Max understood that.

Max was frozen for a few moments, eyes wide. I lightly nudged her side with my elbow. She looked up at me and saw my 'let them' gaze that only she could read. She slightly nodded her head.

"Okay. Angel and Gaz, is it okay for you two to share?" she finally concluded. The two nodded. "Well, let's go and claim some rooms! We'll probably be back later," she told D'anette. _Yeah, to probably learn where all the stores are for shopping,_ I thought a little bitterly.

* * *

We walked into the kitchen, knowing Iggy would want to get familiar with his workspace. Nothing was furnished in the house, though. _Looks like furniture shopping before school starts._ I walked down to the small hallway, finding two bedrooms on either side, and two bathrooms at each end of the hall. I looked in each room, and one was definitely the master bedroom. The other three were all basically the same size: 13 feet by 10 feet. Max would probably get the master bedroom, or Iggy and Nudge. I winced at the thought.

Inside the master bedroom, there was the other bathroom - quite large, I must say. I walked back into the kitchen, sneaking my arm around Max's waist. I must've startled her because she jumped a little in my grip.

"So, who gets the huge-ass bedroom?" I whispered in her ear.

"I don't know. Who needs it most?" she responded.

"I guess Nudge and Iggy –" (wince) "– could share it –" (twitch).

"Yeah. Which one do you want?" I shrugged. It really didn't matter to me – the other three rooms were all the same. "I guess we could have the two rooms right next to each other." I slightly smiled. Max was always the brilliant one. I kissed her temple.

"Okay, Iggy and Nudge. You two get the master bedroom," Max spoke, louder. Nudge and Iggy both nodded, Iggy's arm around Nudge's waist. "Angel and Gazzy, you two can have the bedroom next to Iggy and Nudge's. Got it?" Everyone said their yes's and we all split into our rooms, Max and I figuring out which one we should get. I let Max have the room with bigger closet space.

I walked into my new room and stared at the walls. Then I had a most excellent idea. I walked into Max's room, stopping at the doorframe. I knocked quietly on the already open door. Max turned around to see an unusually happy Fang staring at her.

"Wow, Fang. Happy to see me?" she asked, half jokingly. We walked over to me.

I nodded. "And I had the most excellent idea ever," I calmly stated. When she was close enough, I wrapped my arms around her waist.

"Really now?" she asked, letting her head fall onto my chest but at the same time, looking up at me. "And what exactly would that be?"

I let a smile play at my lips. "We could put a door in between out rooms through that wall." I pointed to the wall that also joined my room's wall. "After we take down the School, of course."

"That sounds like one of your most excellent ideas ever." She stood on her toes to kiss me. I quickly returned the kiss, wanting it to last forever.

**AN: okay. So to clarify the Nudge-Iggy thing and Fang. Fang just isn't quite used to seeing Nudge and Iggy show affection towards each other. So, yeah. Basically, I'm typing up the next chappie RIGHT NOW. And hopefully I can finish it soon. Although, there is A LOT of talking from like three people in it… :)**

**-rainxface-**


	29. 36, right? sure

**AN: finally! I finished typing it. It took a while. The chappie is rather long (for me, anyways), and a bit of just a ramble. So please, don't get any more mad at me than you already are for me not posting/typing sooner.**

**Chapter 36, right? Sure.**

We stayed close together for a while, then our doorbell rang, causing both of us to go tense and into fighting stance. Old habits die hard.

We relaxed once we truly realized that it couldn't have been anything more than new neighbors, welcoming us into the neighborhood. We walked hand-in-hand to the front door, stopping to look through the peep hole. A young girl, about D'anette's age, really, stood at the door, practically just bouncing around. Max took a step back before opening up the door to the girl.

"Hi! D'anette told me that you just moved in! Like, today. Is that true? Cause if so, that is, like, totally awesome!" the girl exclaimed. She had light brown hair with teal tips. Her eyes were seriously blue with green rings. Her clothes were unique, to say the nicest. Her jeans were faded, and used as an autograph book. She kept a smile plastered against her face at all times.

"I'm Heidi. What's your names?" Heidi asked, almost bouncing off the walls.

"I'm Max. This is," Max looked up at me, not knowing if we should've gone by another name or not. I finished for her.

"I'm Fang," I stated. Hey – we were living here. And there was seriously absolutely no way that I was going by Maximilian.

"Cool names! Are you two, like, the parents? Cause if you are, then you're seriously really young. You look no more than 18! I mean, not to be mean or anything, but seriously. Oh! D'anette and I are really close friends, so she tells me practically everything. So, she told there are a few of you. Like 5 or something." God! Another Nudge! And I thought I was going to de from just Nudge and D'anette. How about those two plus Heidi? Crap.

"Yeah. There's six of us," Max intercepted. "I'll go get them. You can talk with Fang." Oh, man. I'm so going to get her back for this. She smiled and walked back into the house, retrieving everyone. The second Max's back was turned, Heidi started talking. Again.

"OMG! So, I have to tell you! D'anette and I are married! It's so cool! She's my wife, and I loove her! Ha! That's one of our many insiders! Like last week, she became my poll-dancer wife! It was sooooooooooooooooooo funny! You had to be there to understand. OMG! You probably don't know this, but I call her Donut. That's probably one of the greatest names I have ever called anyone. Some days she'll only respond to certain names. Like, one time she only responded to Spunky, but that was a while ago. Like no more than a month. It was really hard, cause I only call her Donut. And you don't look the least bit interested and here comes Max!" Oh, God! She is another Nudge or D'anette. _How the __**HELL**__ am I supposed to live in this neighborhood?_ I thought, hoping Angel wasn't listening in. Heidi was talking over 200 words per second. She's hyped up on something. She _has_ to be. I will seriously die.

"Hey! You guys must be the rest of the family!" Heidi exclaimed, probably holding back her whole speech to us.

"I'm Angel," said, well, Angel. "I'm seven."

"I'm Gazzy, and nine," he said, smiling brightly at her, like a normal nine year old would.

"I'm Nudge, and I'm 12! Oh! And I just love love love love love love to talk! How about you? I think it is one of the coolest passions and hobbies!" rambled Nudge. Luckily, Iggy covered her mouth with his hand.

"I'm Iggy. Blind and 15. Sorry about Nudge," Iggy simply stated.

"And you know us, but just to clarify, I'm Max and 15," she cleared up.

"Fang, 15." As I've probably said many times before, I hate talking. I wrapped my arm around Max's shoulders, hopefully letting Heidi know that no, she can't have me even though I'm really hott. But instead, it just started a new rant.

"OMG! You guys are, like, so cute! I mea, you're both tall and really, really model skinny. And I mean that in a good way. Please don't take that the wrong way. Because I'm only mean to the people I don't like and since your track record is clear for, like, the past hour I have no reason to become my really bitchy-punk-emo girl. So beware, I can be very, very mood swingy. Like, seriously. Do you ever get that way, Max? Or even Nudge?" Seriously, Heidi spoke all that in only a few breaths. Something is wrong with those two girls. Oh, God. I'm not going to survive this place.

"So, where do you live?" Nudge interrupted. Okay, not that's something you don't hear everyday – Nudge interrupted someone talking because they were talking too much. Well, I guess she thinks she must be the center of attention at all times.

"Just a few houses down. Oh, that means we could have, like, sleepovers all the time! That'd be so much fun! I mean, I don't have any siblings that are around our age; she's in college. But I'm sure we can all be friends." _She paused! A miracle!_ "I just sounded like an effing hippie. Gross. I'm no tree-hugger! I hate hippies because…" I drowned her out. I looked down at my beautiful Max.

_Why?_ I thought, remembering Max and mine's 'why' list from only a few days ago. No more than a week – though it felt like a lifetime. _Why should anyone this beautiful be born for only testing and a life full of misery? Why should she have to go through all this horrible crap? She's so fragile, so why would someone try to destroy her? Why must she be put through all this at such a young age? She doesn't seem young, but the task that is put on her should only be handled by someone with more experience – no offence to Max. She's doing a wonderful job – but she shouldn't have to do this._

I was interrupted in my thoughts by someone snapping their fingers in front of me. Apparently, Heidi finished up her rant. I focused my attention to what was happening around me to find all eyes on me. Just humiliation.

"Hm?" I asked, trying not to insult Heidi or anyone else.

"How long?" Heidi repeated. "How long have you two been going out?"

"A few weeks. Nothing more than that," I answered, a bit wordy for my tastes to new people.

"But we've known each other since about the time we were born," Max said.

"Oh. That's awesome. I always think that you should be best friends before you go out with anyone, otherwise the relationship could go down the drain, or just horribly wrong. I mean, you should trust who you love and if you don't trust them, how are you going to tell tem how you feel and so how do they help you to not feel that way? It's all so very confusing. But here's what I think: trust those you love, and keep only few. I only trust Donut, Colin, and Zac. Only three. But Zac lives in freaking Utah! Geez, I love that kid. He's so sweet and amazing and cute and –"

"Hello, Heidi!" came D'anette's voice. "Please, Heids, don't make their ears bleed. It doesn't work." Those two plus Nudge started laughing. Maybe because they're the ones that talk the most. "Hey, guys! While you were scouting the house, I looked up some nearby furniture stores. They're really close by, don't worry." She handed us papers with maps on them. "Come on, Heids. Let's go make some pancakes without almost burning down the house." D'anette was practically scolding Heidi, all with a smile on her face. They walked down the porch and over to D'anette's house.

"Well, come on. I know we're all dying to buy beds," Max pushed, glancing at all the papers. "I think we can walk to all of these stores. They're all fairly close – less than five miles, each." We all nodded while Max passed out the pages of maps to everyone.

We all stared at our own maps for a few seconds before heading over to the park to walk to the first store.

**Yep. So there's chapter whatever number it is. Basically, my friend DOES talk a lot, but not like, if she doesn't know you. She has to know you to talk that much. But trust me, its pretty annoying when she does. Just kidding. She's pretty much cool.**

**Please, review. That'll motivate me to finish writing the next chappie that way I can type it up sooner and get it up here!**

**Lots of love!**

**rainxface**


	30. author's note 2

IMPORTANT

**IMPORTANT!**

I am discontinuing this story. I cannot finish it due to personal reasons. _But_ if there is anyone out there that would enjoy taking over the story, I would be glad to give it over to them.

_**Meaning**_: I will post the chapters that _you_ write onto the story I have, but at the top and bottom, I will say that it was written by _you_.

Just a little idea in case someone out there is wanting to write something off of this cliff story.

PM me, don't review with your answer. Please, it's first come, first serve. But, just PM me in case someone hasn't replied to it.

Love,

rainxface

PS: if no one wants it, it'll stay where it is - forgotten in the pile of fanfictions I have written.


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